Thieves
by Dixxy Mouri
Summary: The Cogs of Fate have shifted for Dario, Karsh, Norris, and Glenn, leading them and a few others down a much different walk of life as they try to reach their ultimate goal- El Nido. DISCONTINUED. Being re-written as Thick as Thieves.
1. Prologue

Thieves

By Dixxy

Prologue

AN: Before you begin to read this story, I would HIGHLY suggest reading another story I wrote entitled _Memories_. The part of the prologue in _italics_ is a direct excerpt from the said story (with maybe one or two word adjustments- I did this so long ago I can't remember). Basically, this is what might've happened if some of the events in _Memories_ had occurred differently. Enjoy!

~

_Daylight began to break over the Zenan Mainland, waking many of its people, whether they were in Porre or Guardia. Some had been long awake, baking breads and preparing morning deliveries that would fulfill their livelihoods while others were just up to witness the big orange ball climb high into the sky._

Four young boys were nearly on the outskirts of Porre. Norris was in the lead, the figures all hidden under cloaks to hide their identities as they made their escape. Dario kept close to his brother, almost constantly reminding the younger boy that they were almost home free. Karsh was running on Glenn's other side in an attempt to make the boy feel safer.

"There!" Norris announced. The group stopped, seeing the outskirts of the city just ahead of them. He laughed brightly. "You guys are almost home free!" He turned to Glenn and knelt down to his level. "Don't worry, you'll be home soon. You'll be back with your dear old dad and out of this hell hole."

"What about you, Norris? Aren't you coming, too?" asked Glenn.

Norris shook his head. "No," he said. "My place is here."

"But that man Curtis is here!" said Glenn, looking concerned. "He's bad!"

"Uh, Glenn, I don't know how to tell you this but-" Dario started.

"But what, Dario? I don't know any Curtis," said Norris coldly.

Karsh gave Dario a knowing look. Dario shut his mouth, catching the drift. Glenn would be happier not knowing who Norris was in relation to his kidnapper. They weren't sure how the boy would handle such information, and they didn't want to risk a negative reaction- he was traumatized enough as he was.

With that done, the boys began to run for the exit. Once they were out of Porre, they were much, much safer. This city would do them no good- it had done Glenn no good and Norris knew that something worse would happen to Karsh and Dario is they were captured. Perhaps the three of them would die. Even I might die.

_Just as they reached the city limit, they heard the clicking sound of a cocked gun. All four boys jolted to a stop, nearly crashing into each other. Norris turned his head to see his father pointing a gun at the boys. "I don't know who three of you are, but I know that little Glenn is with you."_

Norris froze. The man that he had learned to hate almost overnight was standing there before them, looking to take them back to the facility. No! He wouldn't allow that to happen! Never! Karsh, Dario, and Glenn didn't deserve this! Making a very bold move, Norris lowered his head. "No."

Curtis nearly dropped his gun. "Norris!? What the hell are you doing?!"

"You heartless bastard! You hurt a little kid, you big jerk!" he said.

Karsh bit his lip. _He's going to get us killed!_

"Norris, the little brat is a political prisoner! He's the son of one of those El Nido savages and I need him to help Porre take over Guardia and eventually his country! Now just give him back before I beat you for this! Don't you realize this is treason, boy? Your mother would pitch a fit!" Curtis yelled.

"I don't care!" said Norris. "You're all a bunch of power hungry bastards! Why would I want to associate myself with a bunch of power hungry bastards! I don't want any part of this anymore! We're going back to Guardia and maybe I'll stay with them! Maybe the Devas don't believe in brutally torturing little children!"

Curtis grabbed Norris by the shirt collar. "You little piece of dirt," he sneered. 

"Let him go!" Glenn protested. 

Curtis shot a sneer towards his former prisoner. Glenn yelped and hid behind Dario. 

"Guys, ahd suggest we git ourselves out of here before we git into more trouble," Karsh suggested.

Curtis briefly dropped Norris to look at Karsh. "You must be that big ax welding Deva's son. Karsh, was it?" he turned his head to Dario. "And from the way Glenn's hiding behind you I'd bet my badge that you're Dario, the great Garai's other son." He shook his head, laughing. "Seems as if I've made quite an interesting catch. Crippling two Devas would shoot me straight to the top." He grinned. "Too bad my traitor of a son is helping them. Such a shame."

Glenn looked at Norris in shock. The Porre boy gulped, feeling nervous.

Curtis raised his gun again. "I want all of you to keep quiet and follow me. If you try to run I guarantee you I'll kill one of you, maybe two. Norris can tell you how good of a shot I am. He's seen me shoot and he knows I'm dead good. If you value your lives then I'd suggest you all move it!"

~

For those of you who are just tuning in, the REAL sequel to _Memories_ (this is more of an AU), which was entitled _Marooned_, featured a brief poll on what people wanted to see after that story was finished, and if you're reading this, well, it's done. This was the winner. The other two stories will come later. 

Another short prologue. I know. Prologues aren't supposed to be long in my book, so I make them short. Also, the point of this prologue was to show EXACTLY where history would have changed for the first four of my six victims (I'm not going to say who the other two are until they show up ^_^). In _Memories_, Karsh and Dario revealed themselves and trash talked Curtis long enough for Norris to get Glenn away. Karsh then used an Element on Curtis so he and Dario could get away. But, as you can see, that didn't happen, and now the boys are goin on a rocky roller-coaster ride that will bring them just about everywhere BUT where they want to be.

This is probably going to be a little on the long side because it's going to be covering a large span on time, more than likely about fifteen or so years. More _CC_ cast members will show up whether it's just a brief appearance or an addition to the main cast. 

Now for comments on the epilogue of _Marooned_. 

Iluvrikku12: LOL! Interesting math equation you got there.

Uftaki: Yeah, I just couldn't resist a little blackmail in the epilogue there, could I? The Karlha (Yes! A new pairing word!) was a bit or a surprise to me, too, but I felt bad for Karsh. Glenn's getting married, Dario's having a baby, and he would still be single. Orlha to the rescue! Well, no, in the real game, if you get the GOOD ending, everyone forgets. When I write, depending on the story, I'll usually have it so everyone remembers, so it's a mix of the good and bad endings, really. Busy? You don't know half of it! I have about the same amount of _Ronin Warrior_ fics to worry about, PLUS some _Lunar_ pieces that I'm WAY overdue on. 

Al: Thanks! Hmm, Curtis using the teddy bear against Glenn? I don't think he'd go for a teddy bear when he has actual people to attack. Yeah, they were pretty shocked, though somehow I think I could've done the reaction scene a little better. You know, that's one thing I don't get- I always use Karsh as a point of humor when he really isn't what I'd call "comic relief" in the game itself. Thanks for the compliment- I like adding other plots to romance other than the classic "I love you!" "But I love you more!" kind of thing. Ha! Cute. Yeah, there isn't enough Gleena here, I don't think, but of course y'all know my feelings on _THE PORRE AFFAIR_ (Glenn: Oh no, here we go again!). Glenn on the traitors? Well. . .that'll probably end up being a side story, if anything at all. Just assume they learned their lesson. 

Miso14: Thanks! But hey, you guys helped out with the 100 mark! A masterpiece? Yes, I'm proud of this, though I'm wondering if I could've had more fluffy, happy chapters like 1-6, which was the original point of the fic. The whole Curtis thing took it over. 3rd installation? That won't be for a while, because _Memories_ is a prequel to the actual trilogy (a la _The Hobbit_ to _The Lord of the Rings_)! Yes, the next two books do involve more characters, for sure, but Glenn pretty much has the role of "main character" at least until Book Three, which might not have him as the main character if I entertain the idea that's running through my head right now. Yes, I am working on the _Thieves_ story (well DUH, this IS that story!) and I have a notebook that I've been jotting down rough ideas in. Other games? Well, I've played both _Lunar_ games and I have two fics in the _L:SSSC_ section, though I haven't worked on them forever and they're kinda crappy in comparison to some of my more recent works, but if you'd like to see them, be my guest. You're entirely welcome, Miso! 

GabbyGirl: Hmm? Oh, you mean about the wedding thing. Don't worry, that'll pop up eventually. Like I'm going to leave a pregnant Riddel and an engaged Glenn and Leena hanging! 

Tami: I amaze myself sometime, though I guess it's really you guys who made it a 100+ reviewed fic. A masterpiece? Well, I would definitely call this one of my better pieces, you're correct. I worked at it, and there were some slow periods, but I got it done and look at it now! It's one of the most reviewed fics in this section! Go me! Heh, we'll see if this one comes out as good as it sounds in my head.

Harle is the best: Cliché? Er, what do you mean by that? Yes, you're right- I'm not a fan of "brevity". Most of my fanfics are multi-part mini-novels ranging from seven or eight parts to as many as sixty (and yes I do have a fic that long- luckily none of the parts were any longer than about three and a half pages). Thanks!

Fier: Thanks for reading it! The ending was a bit cheesy, but you know what, sometimes you need a bit of cheese to go through life. A nice little feel-good ending so everyone knows it'll be all right until I write the sequel, when all hell breaks loose once again. 

Yukari: Karsh is under-appreciated, really, though lately he's been used quite a bit. I STILL wanna know what Soulblighter2 did to him, though. . .

Renmazuo: You liked the fight scene? Cool. The whole thing with the "Glenn dying" thing worked a hell of a lot better when that was, at the time, the last part posted- for someone reading it after the part where Glenn and his counterpart have their heart-to-heart, it isn't as effective because you aren't left wondering. Damn, I know how to hook my readers! Thanks for your comments!

Alba: Well, it's not like it's the end of the world if you don't review, Alba, really, calm down! I take it you're a big Karsh fan? Okay, okay, no duh on that one. Yes, the VIPER MANOR GANG is cool. As long as I have ideas, I'll keep on writing. 

The next part actually gets the story going.

~Dixxy


	2. Chapter One

Thieves

By Dixxy

Chapter One

"Well, aye think it's pretty safe ta say this sucks," Karsh commented dryly. Now that Curtis had captured them, the four boys were locked in on of the many Porre prison cells. None of them doubted that Commander Curtis would be paying them a visit before the day was through, but none of them knew what would happen AFTER that visit. "Now what do we do?"

Norris sat curled in a ball in one of the corners of their prison cell. "Well, I don't know what he's going to do to you, but I know I'll be in HUGE trouble," he said. "I'm a traitor! He can't possibly see me as anything more than scum anymore. But like I see him any differently," he spat. "I might even be executed for this."

"But you're just a kid like us," said Glenn. He was sitting by his older brother, looking at his new friend in worry. _Kill him? But Norris is one of them! And he's that Curtis man's son! They wouldn't kill him. Or, would they? _He reached his hand back up to the wound on his face. _Then again, they didn't have any trouble hurting me and I'm a little kid. But kill him? _"Why would he kill you?"

"Because he committed treason, and treason is a crime often punishable by death," said Dario. "It's a serious crime, Glenn. If one of the Dragoons was giving information to Porre and the General found out about it he'd probably have that Dragoon executed, too. That information could make a huge difference in who wins a war. It doesn't matter if Norris is a kid or not- in the eyes of the Porre military he's dangerous and they will likely kill him, just as he said."

"But he wasn't giving us information," said Glenn. 

"Yeah, but he was helping us git ye out of here, Glenn," said Karsh. "That's still treason. Ye were a prisoner that they were goin' ta use to git ta yer father. He almost ruined a plan." He looked at Norris, a sad look in his eyes. "Ahm correct, right?" The Porre boy nodded.

"They're right, Glenn. By the end of the week I'd either be a head shorter, torn limb from limb, or swinging from the gallows," said Norris. "Or maybe they'll line me up in front of a firing squad." He sighed heavily. He looked at his three comrades. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you guys escape."

"And we're sorry we got you into trouble, Norris, but don't worry- we can find a way out of here," said Dario. He looked at Glenn with a slight grin on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. "I think we all learned just how effective the security is here if a five year old can make a jail break. All we have to do is bide our time and wait for the right moment to strike."

"But how much time da we have ta bide?" asked Karsh.

"Not much," said Norris.

"Then we have to act fast, that's all," said Dario. He looked around the cell. Metal bars, a cot, his friends, his little brother, and lots of grayish bricks. Nothing he could work with that they could see. "We've got to come up with a plan. There's no way we're going to die this young. We're going to survive this, we're all going to Guardia, and we can go to Termina. Karsh and I can teach you and Glenn how to use whatever weapons you guys want to use, and I'm sure our dads will help out." He smiled at Norris. "We'll find you a place to live, Norris. Maybe Radius will take you in- he isn't married, but when I was little he was always my parents' first choice for a baby-sitter."

"You'd do that for me?" asked Norris.

"We're all in this together," said Karsh. "That means yer in it, too."

Dario nodded. "You did us a great favor by getting us in here at all. The least we can do is try to get you a place to live from now on. I'm sure that under the circumstances you'll do just fine in Termina. With a little help I'm sure you could handle a sword or an ax just as well as Karsh or I can. All we have to do now is get out of here and get our buts back to El Nido."

"How?" asked Glenn.

"I'm still working on that part," Dario said dryly.

Karsh knelt down on the floor and dug his hands into his pockets. "Well, let's try ta pool our resources together. Everyone, empty yer pockets. Maybe we ken find something worth using. What ye might think is useless, someone else might find a use fer," he said. Seeing that maybe he had a good idea, the four boys huddled together as they began to empty their pockets. 

"All right, I have exactly fifty gold pieces and my slingshot. Oh, and a piece of gum," said Norris. He frowned. "I'm sorry, guys, I don't have much to help. Yeah, the money and the slight shot might help a little after we're free but. . . I really don't know if any of this is going to help us get out of the cell."

"Twenty gold pieces, a few Tablets, a Capsule, a few attack elements ah borrowed from Radius but dinnae know how to use, an old candy bar and a yo-yo," said Karsh. Dario shot him a look when his purple haired friend had mentioned the elements. "Okay, so e doesn't know ah borrowed them. Once we git back to Termina ahll give 'em back to 'im before ye 'ave a conniption, Dario, all right?"

Dario sighed, looking over his pile. "My mother's pendant, a few GravityBlows THAT WERE NOT STOLEN FROM ONE OF MY ELDERS, a pocket knife, and an old tournament form," he said. "The knife and the elements might be useful. I heard the General say that a lot of the Porre soldiers are White innate, and where I'm Black innate this could be a big help as long as they don't use any PhotonRays or Meteorites on me." He looked up at Norris. "He was correct, wasn't he, Norris?"

"Well, yeah, most of them are, but they aren't ALL White innate- I'm sure not," said Norris. "Curtis and his friends are all different innate colors. Curtis is Yellow like me, Marty is Blue, Jack is Green, Dennis is Black and Aaron is Red. They're part of a specialty division because of the unique properties they carry. I think it's called the Black Wind or something like that."

"That's useful to know," said Dario. He turned to Glenn. "Glenn?"

"I have a crayon, a piece of a Viper Churro, a few rocks, a piece of lint, a gold piece, and- hey! It's the key to the other cell I was in! I forget I had it," said Glenn. All three of his companions looked at him. He pouted, holding it up. "But I don't know if it'll work on this cell and I didn't want to give that false hope Daddy talks about."

Norris smiled. "All of the keys work on all of the cells if I remember correctly."

Karsh burst out laughing. "YES! WE'RE HOME FREE!"

"SHH!" Dario hissed. He took the key from Glenn. "We wait until nightfall, then we sneak out of here and try to find a way out of the city before we get caught again, all right? Put everything back into your pockets. We can't let them know we're planning something, you hear me?" The boys began to grab miscellaneous items that had been on the floor, stuffing them back into their pockets. By the time the last gold coin was in Karsh's pocket, they heard a door open and close.

"Hello boys."

"What a pleasant surprise," Karsh spat sarcastically. 

"Shut up, kid," Curtis retorted. He looked in on his prisoners, shaking his head. Two lower ranking soldiers were flanking his sides, each holding long, dangerous looking rifles. He stared at Norris. "I'm very disappointed in your, Norris. One day you could have been a fine commander in the army. But look at yourself. You threw your life away to try and save these El Nido brats."

"These 'El Nido brats' are my friends. What you're doing is wrong," said Norris. "You just can't see that because all you've ever cared about is war and power. Admit it, Curtis- you hate peace. You can't stand the quiet and you're not happy unless you're fighting or hurting someone."

"Now that isn't true and you know it you little spawn," he said. "I worked hard to make a good life for you and your mother and THIS is how you repay me? My own son. My own son is a traitor to the Porre military. Do you know how that makes me feel? To know that my own flesh and blood went against his country?"

"You have feelings, ye monster?" Karsh snapped, rushing up to the bars.

"I wasn't speaking to you!" Curtis snapped. "Oh, you and your two little buddies are going to suffer quite a bit. At least my boy's suffering will be over tomorrow at sunrise." He turned to his son. "Out of kindness I asked the executioner to make it quick and painless. Traitor or not, you're still my son and I don't want you to suffer."

Norris' face took on an expressionless mood. He was going to die, and he was accepting it.

"You're a bad man!" Glenn cried out.

"Oh, how cute, the little pip squeak is trying to stand up for the traitor," said Curtis. He grinned maliciously. "I'm going to have a LOT of fun with you, little one. You might not like it quite as much but I'm going to enjoy breaking you. You won't be so defiant after that. And neither will the other two."

"I hope yer corpse rots," Karsh sneered.

"Same to you. Farewell, brats," said Curtis. "I need to makes plans." With that, he and his escorts left, leaving the boys will a sudden decrease in self esteem, but a very much increased desire to escape from their prison. They all jumped at the sound of the door leading out of the prison wing as it slammed shut, and began to wait.

"We have to leave NOW," said Dario. "If we don't, they're going to kill Norris."

"Right," said Karsh. He turned to Norris. "Ye'd better have really good navigational skills, because if ye don't, we'll all be screwed. Ye hear me? All of our lives are in yer hands, Norris." He smiled, putting a hand on the Porre boy's shoulder. "Dinnae worry. Ah have faith in ye."

"Thank you," said Norris. With a resounding click, the door was open and the boys were free to exit their cell. Once outside, Norris began to lead them down the other end of the hallway in a brisk jog. "C'mon, this way. I'm pretty sure this leads to the navel base."

"Navel base? You mean like boats?" asked Dario.

"Exactly. It doubles as a dock for merchant ships. We can't risk going straight to Guardia from here right now, so we're going to try and hop a ship out of here. If we're lucky the ship will bring us to Truce, or, better yet, El Nido," said Norris. "Merchants are neutral and aren't citizens of any country. If anything they're part of their own nation of sorts."

"So if we end up on a merchant ship we'll have no idea where we're going but we'll be safe," said Dario.

"Exactly," said Norris.

"Perfect," said Karsh. "We could git lost."

"Would you rather be dead?" asked Dario.

". . . ye got a point thar, Dario."

~

Norris was right in saying that there was a dock nearby, as the boys soon found themselves outside near Porre's harbor. And what a place it was! Karsh, Dario, and Glenn all found themselves dumbfounded at the sheer size of the trade center of the city they were trapped in. The dockyard at Termina could, at best, dock seven merchant ships and a few rowboats. This dock looked like it could hold at least quadruple that amount! Crates of all shapes and sizes littered the wooden dock, and both sailors and soldiers patrolled the docks. Several giant military boats loomed over the water, dwarfing the merchant ships docked beside them.

All in all, they should have been home free, but disappointment was becoming a fast friend. There was yet ANOTHER obstacle in their way. With dozens of armed Porre soldiers walking around, then the boys would have been able to stow away onto one of the merchants with much greater ease.

"Soldiers?" asked Karsh. "Now what da we do?"

"Sneak around them, I guess," said Norris. "I doubt they know I'm a traitor as of yet so we could risk bumping into a few, but I can't say that word hasn't spread yet. There are a lot of people in this facility, many of them cooks and servants who love to spread gossip. Knowing that one of the Black Wind's own offspring betrayed Porre would be the best piece of dirt that they could get their hands on."

"Okay, we dinnae want them to see us at all, especially if they recognize Norris," said Karsh. He looked around, trying to judge their situation. "This is gonna be tricky. We can't just waltz around here like we own tha place. But we'll find a way ta do this without loosing our heads."

"But there's so many of them," Dario noted.

Glenn was walked a few paces ahead of the rest of the small group of boys. "Maybe we could hide in one of those really big boxes," he said. The other three looked at the five year old. "If we get lucky then maybe the box will go on a ship and leave Porre. If we're in the box we'll leave Porre, too!"

Norris looked at Dario with a wide grin on his face. "You know that Glenn's a genius?"

Karsh held his hands palm up, looking at each hand in turn in mock confusion. "Glenn, genius. Genius, Glenn." He threw his hands into the air, shaking his head. Dario and Norris looked at the purple haired youth in question. "Nope. Ahm sorry, Norris, but ah just dinnae see the connection."

"Hey! Looks who's talking!"

"Not now," Dario said. "Let's find a crate that's getting shipped out, get inside, and hope for the best. Everyone, stick together. We're all in this together and no one is going to get left behind." He put his hand out, and, somewhat awkwardly, the four boys formed a four-way handshake. Once they pulled away from each other, they began to search for their crate.

~

Yay! They escaped! And are on their way to El Nido, right? Right?

If you think they're going to El Nido, then you don't know my writing style very well now do you?

Alba: And you most certainly were! The new twist is the whole purpose of this story- the current protagonists as well, as two others, grow up to be thieves, and I may even decide to give them a name that starts with "Radical" and ends with "Dreamers", but that is a definite MAYBE. Not a YES, not a NO, a MAYBE. And believe me- I WILL be toying with a lot of the characters. As of now, *counts on fingers* at least playable characters will be played with in some way or another as well as a handful of some non-playable characters such as Dario. Yes, reviews do help out the writer, now don't they? Karsh is cool, and so is Norris. I imagine those two will get into lots of trouble.

Tami: Close, but no cigar- Alba got in just before you did. Really? Predictions of utter greatness for this fic? Ooo. . . there goes my ego. Heh. . . I just like to have stuff on hand so I CAN update often- I update every few days to allow lots of reviews to come in because I'm a review junkie.

Harle is the best: Thanks! And none was taken!

Iluvrikku12: You're welcome.

Uftaki: Thanks. Well, I think we can see that Porre has really crappy security policies and that they can all escape easily. But you're right- they aren't out of the forest yet. Quite frankly is Curtis can bring harm to another kid, I think he'd have no problem beating his own kid.

Miso14: Glad you're happy about that! Hey, there's nothing wrong with dark fics- I like dark stuff as long as it deals with the supernatural or internal conflicts. Yes, a lot should happen, I just need to come up with more ideas. Dominating the CC category? Really? Wow. Yes, this is the fate/altered one. _Lunar_ is a good game and worth the time- _Kingdom Hearts_!? I don't even have a PS2! WAH! I WANNA PS2!!! I WANNA PLAY _KINGDOM HEARTS_!!! 

Yukari: Mmm. . . I'd like to glomp Dario and Glenn, too. . . but alas, Cye would be jealous (my husband at a site called "Bishounen Realm" that gives out marriage certificates). Leena (probably) isn't in this one- if she is in this one, it won't turn into a Gleena fic what-so-ever.

Fuu: Thanks. Not a Gleena fan? *shrugs* Oh well. And Karsh/Orlha isn't a huge, huge theme in my stories, and probably won't be in this one. Though, with the whole Orlha thing, just about anyone is better than Doc. I don't like Doc almost as much as I don't like Korcha, and we all know how I feel about Disgusting Red Speedo Boy. Okay, maybe there is a worse thing that Doc/Orlha. . . Korcha/Orlha OR Pierre/Orlha. Geez, I'm making poor Orlha sound like a slut here.

Next chapter coming out soon!

~Dixxy


	3. Chapter Two

Thieves 

By Dixxy

Chapter Two

"It's dark!"

"It's cramped!"

"Aw, nasty! Who blew one?"

"Don't look at me!"

"Or me!"

"Hmm, yer right- aye think its fish."

"Ew!"

Dario sighed heavily to himself. They'd been in the crate for a very long time now, and as a result of four boys being cramped in a small space, tensions were running high. Even after managing to sneak onto their crate, they had no idea where they were headed, which only added to the atmosphere they'd been subjected to.

"How much longer do we have to be crammed in here?" asked Glenn.

"Until we reach port, I guess," said Norris. "But we don't know where that'll be."

"Nice," said Karsh. "We could be 'ere fer days before this boat docks."

"DAYS!?"

"SHH!" Dario hushed. "If we get caught we'll get in trouble!"

"Won't we be in trouble when we get out anyways?" Glenn quipped.

"Hmm- lad's got a point, there," said Karsh. "Maybe we should just git out now."

Dario sighed, shaking his head. "If we can sneak out without them seeing us we can avoid that altogether," he said. He turned to Norris. "What do you know about the ports of Medina, Choras, and Truce? The three of us will know exactly what to do if we end up in El Nido, but. . ."

"I do not know, but I know it won't be a very warm reception if this ship is headed to Medina- the Mystics are not very fond of humans, and rumor has it they have a few hundred of our kind and a handful of demi-humans enslaved," said Norris. He grimaced. "In fact, most of them are downright dangerous- some can use magic without the aid of the El Nido elements. They use something called 'magic points' instead, and they're VERY dangerous."

Dario gulped. "I've heard of that," he said. He shook his head. "But there are four places we could end up, right? Medina is only one of them, so we only have a one-in-four shot of ending up there. We have a much better chance of ending up in El Nido, Truce, or Choras, right?"

"Choras isn't much better- they revolted against Porre and won their freedom back. But they weren't able to restore their government and now everyone relies on these horrendous warlords and 'kings' for guidance. Because of the large number of rulers, they don't have any sort of a legal system or the ability to give out things like birth certificates and marriage licenses. Even worse, its plain dangerous there- riots are just about a normal occurrence there," said Norris. 

"Okay, you're saying with have even odds to land in a good or a bad place?" Dario asked.

"Well. . . yes."

"Just great. . ." Karsh muttered.

"Well. . . this is better than nothing, at any rate," Dario said. "If we end up in Choras or Medina we just jump another ship until we get to where we want to go. It might take a little while but we'll get there." He leaned against the side of the box. "All we have to do is kick back and relax."

"And keep quiet," Karsh reminded them.

"Well. . . that, too."

Glenn placed his ear up against the side of the box. "I think I hear something," he whispered.

All four boys quieted, not wanting to make a sound. Sure enough, the sounds of boots on wood could be heard outside. Not one of the stowaways even dared to so much as breathe. The eerie calm slowly began to creep up on each of them, a desperate, primal urge to scream being suppressed by every will they had.

And then someone opened the crate.

"AHH!!!"  
"AHHH!!!"

"AHHH!"  
"WAHH!"

"WHAT IN THE HELL!?"

~

_That's it- we're all dead,_ Norris thought. After their hiding place had been found and a rather brief chase had ensued, the four boys now found themselves face to face with the captain of the boat they had stowed away on. Dario had a protective arm around his brother, who was looking around nervously. Karsh was chewing on his hair, trying to act calm and cool. As for Norris, he felt as if he was back in the prison cell in Porre, awaiting his execution.

The boys had been brought to the captain's quarters, which appeared to be more of an office rather than a room on a boat. Well, the entire back wall had been replaced by a huge window that show the mighty sea before them, but aside from that it didn't seem like something on a boat. Tapestries from all over the world hung on the walls, vases and jeweled armors accenting the mood. A large globe of the world on a tall stand stood in one corner, surrounded by curled up maps and navigational devices that all ships needed. Another corner had a cat bed, where a large, fat tabby slept, lying on its back with its paws stretched out over its head and to the tip of its tail, which twitched every so often as the animal occasionally moved, perhaps having some sort of a dream. Behind the cat was a tall wardrobe that had been decorated with a carving of some sea legend involving a giant sea serpent and a ship of what looked like pirates. A huge, oak desk sat towards the window, and behind the desk sat the captain.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Four stowaways?" the captain said. The man was rather short and stout with a round, red face that would almost appear childish if it weren't for the thick grey beard that surrounded his face like a fuzzy halo. Old, time weary eyes looked at them with a hint of dark intentions that the boys weren't sure that they could trust. Out of the corner of his mouth a large pipe hung, the smell of a fine tobacco filling the room as the captain puffed away. He took the said pipe out, blew smoke in Karsh's face (which caused the purple haired youth to cough uncontrollably) and laughed. "So, what do you little brats think you're doing on my boat?"

Dario cleared his throat. Maybe he could plead for their lives and talk the man into being cabin boys for the remainder of the voyage? "Captain, sir, I apologize for our intrusion, but it's imperative that we get to Truce or El Nido- our lives are in danger and those places are the only safe havens we know of. If you'd like, we will offer ourselves to you as cabin boys to pay for our passage."

The captain scratched his hairy beard, seeming to think this over. He raised a hand, curling one finger at two of his sailors. They huddled together, whispered to each other, and then broke apart. The sailors stood at the captain's sides, acting like they were his bodyguards. "We've decided you four may work as cabin boys and we'll let you off at our destination without penalty."

Karsh, Dario, and Norris all cheered, high-fiving each other in joy. Glenn walked up to the desk, standing on his toes to look over. As his brother and his friends cheered, the smallest boy raised his hand. "Um, Mr. Captain sir? Can I ask you a question?" he asked innocently. 

The captain nodded, giving him a large grin and snapping his fingers. "Of course, child- ask anything of me that your heart desires," he said in a sort of mocking kindness. Glenn's eyes widened, not liking the look the captain was giving him. In a way, it seemed almost reminiscent of Curtis, which, naturally, shook the young child endlessly. If the look reminded him of Curtis, and if Curtis was a bad man, then did that mean the captain was a bad man as well? On their cue, the sailors began to escort the boys, Glenn included, out of the room.

"Good bye, children!" the captain said, waving.

"Wait! Mr. Captain Man! Where are we going?!"

~

"You know, I think Glenn had a point," Norris said as he peeled off his shirt. He tossed the sweat and salt-water soaked garment on the floor, then lied back on the sheets of the bunk bed he'd claimed as his own. After they'd been escorted out of the captain's quarters, the boys had been given work right away, whether it be moving cargo or doing random tasks for the crew members. They'd then been assigned a small, cramped cabin with four bunk beds that had thin sheets, hard mattresses, and a thick smell of something rotting in the air. Both Dario and Glenn had been completely drained and were asleep before they hit their respective beds, leaving only Karsh and Norris awake. "It seems kinda weird that the captain just accepted us as cabin boys after we stowed away onto his boat, don't you think? And how he didn't tell us where he planned to bring us."

Karsh shrugged, pulling off his boots. "Aye agree, Nor. Tha man's not giving me an honest impression. Ye think e is up ta somethin'?" His new friend nodded, pulling the thin sheet over his tired and over-worked body. "Hmm, so then the lad and aye aren't alone in our suspicions."

"You think something's up, too?"

"Ay'm na stupid, Nor. Tha man's up ta somethin', all right, and we arena gonna like it."

Norris gulped as he pulled the blankets more tightly around himself. "Think we'll ever get to El Nido as this rate? If that captain's up to something, then we might not get there," he said. He sighed heavily. "Ugh. The past few days have been a bit more than I can bear. One day I was living a perfectly normal life, and the next day I'm a wanted fugitive on a ship bound for some unknown destination."

"Exactly- we dinnae know where we're going," said Karsh. 

"So what do we do to make the situation better?"

"You tell me."

Norris bit his bottom lip. "Then I guess there's nothing we can do, huh?"  
Karsh nodded. "All we can hope is tha this is just a real nice guy we're dealing with."

The blonde put his hands behind his head and looked upwards at the ceiling, a sad look in his eyes. He closed them slightly as he turned on his side and set his attention on Karsh. The purple haired youth blinked in confusion as Norris gave him a melancholy look. "Somehow I doubt that."

~

Morning came, and the boys had been given the task of peeling potatoes in the hull of the ship. The captain had told the boys that they were not to go on deck unless they were finished or someone came to get them. And with the large amount of potatoes they had to peel (Dario has estimated it to be several hundred), it looked as if the four boys would be down in the hull for a long time.

"How much longer is it gonna take to peel all these potatoes?" Glenn asked innocently.

"Too long," Karsh muttered, tossing another finished potato into the finished potato pile. "This stinks! Aye know that we should be thankful e didn't throw us off the boat or somethin' but come-on! Peeling potatoes? What is with this guy?" He turned to Dario. "Yer brother and ye were asleep when Nor and aye had a lit'l discussion- we think the captain's up to somethin' that we aren't gonna like, because face it- the man's acting weird, even if we DID stowaway."

"No kidding- he isn't telling us where we're heading," said Dario. "For all we know we're heading back to Porre." His two friends and his little brother all froze, staring at him in fear. Dario shook his head. "I'm just saying that we should be cautious. We've been in a bad situation for about three, four days now and it hasn't gotten any better."

"It could be worse," Norris reminded them. "We did get out of that Porre jail cell, didn't we? If we hadn't, the three of you would probably be in some sort of a torture chamber and I'd be dead for committing treason- at least we're alive and out of Curtis' hands, so we should be thankful for that much."

"Yeah, but is the jerk we dinnae know worse then the one we do know?" Karsh added.

Glenn sunk into his corner of the room. "Dario, I'm scared."

Dario put an arm around his little brother's shoulder. "Don't worry, Glenn, we'll get through this. Somehow. And we'll find our way home, one way or another. All right?" The smaller boy nodded, rubbing his eyes with his fist. The older boy hugged his younger rubbing, softly comforting the disturbed child. Norris and Karsh exchanged knowing looks.

_This is all Curtis' fault._

A knock sounded, and the boys all looked up. "Captain wants you boys on deck!"

"Well. . . maybe the man has some good news for a change," Norris said as he brushed off his pants. "Who knows? We could even be in port- if the destination was Truce, this is about the right amount of time for a trip between the two." Quietly, the boys stood and began to make their way to the deck, all with hopeful, but somewhat skeptical thoughts running through their heads.

As they emerged on deck, they looked around to see an unfamiliar setting. As opposed to the cheery and homey houses and buildings of Truce, the boys looked out to see thatch roofed houses made of a clay or a mud of some sort. Disgruntled grumbling could be heard in the background as they looked to the captain for an explanation.

"So, these are the boys you're giving us?"

The boys turned to see a tall, thin man with deep blue skin and large, pointed ears standing by the loading dock. Norris held up a gasp, then shot a threatening look towards the captain. That was enough to tip off the other three that the captain had not told them their destination for a reason.

This was Medina.

And that man was a Mystic.

Glenn cried out and hid behind Dario, trying to place as much between him and as the Mystic as he could. The blue Mystic laughed, looking at Glenn with interest. Karsh bit his bottom lip, his eyes darting back and forth with worry as even more Mystics came on board the ship, many holding iron chains in their grasp. Norris looked panic stricken as he tried to come up with a solution to their problem. 

They were going to be enslaved.

And then they were jumped.

~

Yeesh, things don't seem to be getting any better, do they?

Miso14: Yeah. This fic takes over a LONG period of time, as I said- you can't cram fifteen years into ten chapters because that's what's known as "rushed". Well, each chapter is between four to five pages in MSWord97 with a 12 point Times New Roman font- that is, as of now, my standard chapter length. Sometimes, depending on the individual chapter, longer is needed. You know, that whole Porre thing is going to turn into a bad running gag eventually (like my whole _The Porre Affair_ thing, only this time it'll actually be in the story). DAMN IT I WANT A PS2!!! But you have to realize it's expensive- you have to buy the system, memory cards, controllers, games, ect. In the end you're probably paying at LEAST $300 (though it should be going down by Christmas- yay!). Still, it's not a cheap thing to just go out and buy- you have to save up and work it into your budget, you know? But that's one of my goals right now- the PS2.

Yukari: Oookkkkaaayy. . . well, for the alliteration thing, I'm wondering why a whole class failed something like that- most tongue twisters ARE alliterations and I know your class much know SOME tongue twisters, right? But it's the first SOUND you hear in a word that counts- so "sock" and "shoe" would not work because "s" is one sound and "sh" is another. Did that help any, or am I just getting annoying?

Alba: Karsh and Nor bickering? Hmm, I dunno about that one. Yeah, maybe a little, though I think under the circumstances they might not be like that all the time as they're depending on each other for survival for so long. Yeah, he is, isn't he? He's a little naïve though, and he grows up to be very cunning and crafty in this story. Yes, I do- for one, I have rough, rough ideas for the two "replacement" Devas and how it affects everyone. Yes, Curtis lives, sadly. He's one of several people(s) out to get our heroes- the Mystics, who I've already brought in, is one of the others. . . . daw crap, I set myself up for that one. Yes, yes, yes, Kid is going to be a part of this story. 

Tami: LOL! The way you said that made my day (I had a crummy one at the time of this response). Yes, Nor and his generation a little more on the ball, I guess. But I'm just making a dumb joke out of the Porre security system. I really have nothing to base this on (though one could argue Guardia had a crappy one if A, a prisoner can escape and B, said prisoner's friend can bust in with a ray gun), by the way. Thanks!

Lena: Oh boy, here we go again. Well, you're right- if the point for them is to get to El Nido, then it makes sense that it won't happen until MUCH later in the story, right? Yes, a halfway point is possible if they do something important once they get there (i.e. go fight the bad guy or something), then not so much. However, if there is a "big fight" at the end, it will happen anywhere BUT El Nido as I stand now. The Water Dragon fairies get weird after a while, though Razzly is okay- having her magic skills is an acceptable compensation for not having Glenn and getting stuck with Chicken Hawk. Yup- I used a lot of your advice for his accent, though some words I'm playing it be ear (he = 'e, the, that can sometimes be tha, ect). Heh, that joke has been used all over the place before- TV, books, movie, ect. Eh. . . I don't know about that. Yes, Curtis as a ghost is scary, but you have to realize that while he doesn't have the spectral powers that he had/has in the trilogy, he DOES have a whole army at his disposal. But you are right- option to kill is there. Though in the _Chrono Cross_ world you CAN kill dead stuff- I'm thinking you did Fargo's Ship Round One by now. Personally I'm amused when I cast healing spells on them and it causes them to die. You know, I wanted to do a Bond-type plan, but I couldn't think of anything and I didn't want to have them do it behind the scenes in the form of a cheap joke (Karsh: "Gee Dario, what a brilliant plan! That was so amazing! Blah, blah, blah! Too bad the people reading the fic didn't see this!"). You liked the monster line? *shrugs* Whatever floats your boat I guess- it didn't strike me as anything extraordinary, but it obviously hit you, so cool. Okay, okay, so it wasn't the RIGHT "naval"- don't worry, I talk about navy generals all the time, and Cye gets mad at me for that, too ("It's an ADMIRAL, Dixxy love, an ADMIRAL"). The site revamping isn't so bad- a lot of it is copy and paste. The biggest thing I need to worry about is the fanfic section because it's so huge and I want to put my non-RW works there as well, though that isn't a promise. And once I'm sure I've saved all the MIDI files worth saving, that's going buh-bye, because they're taking up 4 MB of space and with my new Fanart section, I don't have the room for them all until/if I move out of Angelfire. 

Suzako: Thanks! Yeah, _Memories_ and _Marooned_ just kind of took on a life of their own. People (seem to) like it! Yup, it is. The prologue shows WHERE times splits and the alternate reality is created- I think I explained it in the last Author's Notes section. Aw, you did? That's so sweet! 

Witten's Hand: Thanks. Well, I don't know. The Radical Dreamers thing is a big time MAYBE, though the more I get into the story (not actually written- I have a rough story-outline in a notebook that's just for the purpose of me getting ideas down) the more it seems like it should fit. The only thing I'll promise is that Kid will be in the story. 

If you keep reviewing, I'll keep writing and posting. 

~Dixxy


	4. Chapter Three

Thieves

By Dixxy

Chapter Three

"DARIO!"

Dario clenched his eyes shut, cursing under his breath as he lowered the dish into the soaping water, having to bite his lip to keep from screaming. _What do they want NOW!?_ he thought bitterly.Life as a slave to the Mystics, he'd learned, was not at all a fun task. Hell, it pretty much sucked. 

After the captain had turned them into the Mystics, the four of them had been given to a rich bigwig by the name of Ozzie VIII, a descendant of the original Ozzie who had worked for the sorcerer Magus over four-hundred something years earlier. Their master was a fat, purple Mystic who floated wherever he went and ordered around his servants and slaves as if they were the scum of the planet. 

The only good thing about their current predicament was that they were all located in the same room, and at that, it was only the four of them. Only once had someone not been accounted before, and that had been because Karsh had been held over at the stables longer than usual. So, for the most part, they at least knew their companions were very much alive and well.

The bad news was they had now been working for Ozzie VIII for a whole year.

And what a year it had been.

They had learned their master LOVED parties, for one thing. They were, at the very least, on a weekly basis, but there was usually some sort of a gathering every night of the week. At these parties, the Mystics would dance and eat and drink for several hours, having a wonderful time as they partied the night away. Sometimes there were games and other times there was a show of some sort, but every party had a main event. 

The main event was a very sick practice. Ozzie VIII would choose one human slave and humiliate them in some way for the pleasure of his guests. Sometimes he would shave their entire body free of hair. Other times he would paint them funny colors and make them dance naked. Once he even made Norris eat a live cockroach and Karsh still refused to talk about the cross-dressing incident. 

Wiping his hands on a nearby towel, Dario exited the kitchen to find his cruel master, wondering what the floating purple Mystic wanted. For some reason, Ozzie VIII had a particular dislike for Dario, though that made sense considering how rebellious he was compared to his friends and little brother. So, if he ever wanted something done that was particularly nasty (such as toe nail clippings or cleaning the bathroom {which got VERY disgusting on a regular basis}), he often chose Dario to do it.

Before long he stood before the Mystic in his private quarters. To avoid a beating or an added nasty task, Dario knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. _Don't think you'll get this on a normal basis, Ozzie- I just don't feel like scrubbing birds droppings off the roof AND getting all the grime out of the basement today, _he thought to himself. "Yes, Master Ozzie? How may I be on service to you?"

"Are you up to something? I'm not sure you today."

"I am up to nothing- please, just assign me my task so I may get it done."

"Oh, I have no task for you right now," he said. Dario looked up in confusion, wondering what the Mystic wanted. "I wish to speak with you about your friends. Is that so awful a task, Dario, or would you like to give me a pedicure and a nice back shaving? Hmm?"

"No, I can talk, sir," said Dario. He knelt down on both knees and loosely crossed his arms.

"I wanted to ask you about your brother, the little one," said Ozzie VIII. The Mystic didn't like saying Glenn's name because of who Glenn was obviously named after- Sir Glenn, the knight who had defeated Magus after the wizard killed his friend and role-model, Sir Cyrus. Dario knew that it would be hard to hide Glenn's namesake from their master, but he could EASILY "forget" to tell Ozzie VIII that his brother hadn't just been named after the legend because of what he was, but because he was their great-great something grandfather.

"Glenn? What about him?" asked Dario.

"DON'T SPEAK THAT NAME BEFORE OZZIE!"

"Yes, yes, what about my brother do you wish to know?"

Ozzie VIII cleared his throat. "How old is he?"

"Six- turned six five months ago," said Dario. _What's he up to?_

"Strong kid, right?"

Dario shrugged. "No more than any other six year old I know."

"But he's a hard working little brat, right?" said Ozzie VIII.

The elder brother had to bite his bottom lip to keep from snapping at Ozzie over the "brat" comments. "Yes, he's very hard working and very determined. Forgive me for asking, but what do you care so much about him for all of a sudden? Usually you try to have nothing to do with him aside from assigning him tasks." 

"That is Ozzie's business!"

"Okay, forget I asked," said Dario.

"Ozzie will."

Dario lowered his head. He didn't need Ozzie VIII to tell him what he was up to- he already had a very, very good idea at what the greedy Mystic was looking for. It was EASY. Glenn was young- someone could easily train him in a craft of some sort. He was also very determined and hard-working (though Dario figured out that Glenn's reasoning was that the faster it got done the more time he had to relax and sleep in). 

Ozzie VIII wanted to sell Glenn.

"Ozzie is done with you- be gone!" he said. Dario nodded, slowly getting up as it began to dawn on him. "Now, go back to work before Ozzie gets angry, and we all know that it isn't a good thing when Ozzie is angry, isn't that right, Dario? Or have you already forgotten the last time I got angry?"

"No, I haven't," Dario admitted. That had been one NASTY beating- tied up, whipped, and a nice long hair pulling followed by a bath in the sewers below the house. Dario knew there was worse that could happen, but Ozzie VIII only believed in a little bit of physical pain- he preferred to gross out and/or humiliate his slaves. Whippings were the worst of the pain he dealt out.

As he left Ozzie's quarters, Dario decided that it was finally time for an escape. 

Right then, the most important people in the world to him were Glenn, Karsh, and Norris. And where Glenn was the youngest of the three, and if he was sold off and separated from his older friends. . . Dario shuddered at the thought. It was bad enough being a slave in this foreign country, but at least the four of them were together and could support each other. Alone would be a horse of a different color.

_I have to talk to the others before it's too late!_

~

"They're gonna WHAT!?"  
"Aye kinna believe tha bastard would stoop so low!"

"Dario, don't let them take me away!"

Dario hushed his panic-stricken friends. The four of them had gathered in their room and were huddled together to carry out their meeting. "Shh! If they know we know about it then we'll all get in trouble and they'll ship Glenn off sooner than they were going to in the first place!" His friends and brother quieted, though he noticed the six year old had begun to cling to him, whimpering slightly. "Glenn, we aren't going to let them sell you off."

"An how do ye suppose we do tha?" Karsh hissed at his friend. His eyes had narrowed as he looked at Dario like he had just suggested something unheard of (which he pretty much had, so the look was justified). "Think about it, Dario. The four of us are SLAVES here- the Mystics see us as nothin' more than cattle tha can talk and do more than just plow fields. What can we do? Nothing. If tha fat bastard wants to sell Glenn we're powerless to stop him!"

Glenn's bottom lip began to quiver as he looked up at his brother in worry.

Dario shook his head in determination. "No!"

"Then what are we going to do?" asked Norris.

"Easy. We're going to escape," said Dario.

Silence. 

Norris broke the silence with a cough. "Um, Dario? Isn't that what we've been trying to do for the past year? What is so different about this escape attempt? Hmm? Nothing we've done has worked. I'm not saying you haven't come up with some brilliant idea, but you have to admit the odds aren't in our favor."

The unspoken leader of the group smiled smugly as he folded his arms and leaned up against the wall behind him. "I'll agree with that, but I do have an idea," said Dario. He signaled for his friends to huddle closer as he explained the plan to them. Giggles, snickers, and other sounds of approval came from the boys. This WAS a good plan, and this plan might actually stand a chance at working!

Once he had explained the plan, Dario grinned. "We'll do it tonight."

~

Night soon fell apon Medina, and the manor of Ozzie VIII was active and full of life as yet another party was in full swing. Mystics of all shapes, sizes, and color were dancing and drinking and eating and having a grand time as the night grew older. Ozzie VIII watched from a throne-like chair situated on the far wall in amusement, drumming his fingers on the arm of said furniture. Tonight was going to be a good night, because he was going to make a pretty penny from the sale he was about to make.

"Hello, my friend!"

Ozzie VIII looked up to see his friend Liberache approaching him. "Ah, how are you!" Ozzie VIII returned, shaking his friend's hand. Liberache was a tall, orange Mystic with huge ears and a short, pointed nose. He wore a flowing red suit with gold trimmings and ruby buttons, signifying that this was a very rich Mystic.

Who was willing to pay a hefty price for a young, trainable human slave.

"Lovely party, Ozzie- so tell me, where's the little one?" asked Liberache.

"I'll be sending for him soon enough- he'll be tonight's lucky victim," said Ozzie VIII, laughing voraciously at the mention. "I'll let you do as you wish to him- make him yours. Brand him, beat him, I don't care what you do- just make it good and entertaining, my friend- everyone is watching you."

Liberache grinned, patting a sack at his side. "I have everything I need right here in this little bag- tattooing equipment. Everyone will know he's mind after tonight, Ozzie. And he won't EVER get away. But you know that you don't get your money until I get him branded, right?"

"Should I call him now?"

"I don't see why-"

SLAM!

"The door's shut! The damn door's shut!" someone yelled. Ozzie VIII and his friend looked up to see the tall oak doors had, indeed, been slammed shut. 

Ozzie VIII grumbled. "That's odd," he said. He cleared his throat. "Well? Open it!"

"It's locked!"

"WHAT!?"

"It's locked and we can't break it down!"

"That's impossible! The only other people in the manor are my human slaves and I'd had them all locked up for the night!" Ozzie VIII screeched. "So tell me- who closed those doors!? I don't think is very funny and something BAD will happen to the person who did it!!!"

And all hell broke loose. Chairs were smashed and tablecloths were ripped as the Mystics tried to determine who had locked them all in the main hall. Battle cries sounded as physical blows were dealt out and magic flew around like birds in a frenzy. Ozzie VIII and Liberache ducked behind the giant throne, watching in shock and amazement as the events unfolded.

Ozzie fumbled around his belt to try and find his key ring, which held a key to the main doors- at least if they could get out the rioting would be much less condensed. But the more he searched, the more frustrated he became. Where in Medina had his stupid house keys gone off to?

~

"Look at 'em! I didn't know Mystics could fight like that!" Norris said. He, Dario, Karsh, and Glenn were watching the main hall of Ozzie VIII's manor from the roof, where a glass window had been placed. Karsh was twirling the key he'd stolen from Ozzie VIII himself with pride and dignity, not finding himself able to pull his gaze away from it. Glenn looked up at his brother was a simple smile, knowing now that everything would be all right.

Right?

"So, not only did we outsmart Ozzie VIII, but we're free!" said Dario. They all cheered in agreement, high-fiving each other on their achievement. After several cries and hugs of happiness, their next task dawned on them. And it had been their main goal all along, but now was the time to implement it.

"Aye guess our next stop is El Nido," Karsh said.

"But how do we get there?" asked Norris. "Isn't it a chain of islands?"

"Right, so we need to get on a boat to get there," said Dario.

Karsh coughed. "Dario? Tha didnae work last time."

"I know that!" he said. "We're going to take a small boat, like a rowboat or something, back to the mainland. Then we're going to walk to Truce- hopefully we can get help there to get back to El Nido. By now everyone must think we're dead or something and we need to let them know we're alive."

Norris bit his bottom lip. "If I'm right, there's supposed to be an old man who lives on the southwestern part of this island- the Mystics leave him alone because he keeps to himself. I guess he's a hermit or something. Still, he might be willing to help us somehow."

"Good idea!" said Karsh. "Let's just hope he's na a crackpot."

~

. . . I know, I know, but Liberache was the only musician I could think of to go along with the whole Ozzie, Flea, and Slash gag from CT!

I got the Ozzie descendant's title (the "VIII") from _Chrono Trigger: Tempus Fugitive_, which is written by t-smitts, because I was too lazy to look in up in the actual game, and I felt like plugging something in addition to _The Porre Affair_ for once. So after you're done reading Soulblighter2's masterpiece in progress, check out _Chrono Trigger: Tempus Fugitive_ for the CT fan in you.

Miso14: Yup. Though as we can see that didn't last very long (story wise- a year is still a pretty long time). Yeah, I figure their first theft should be chapter five or six (though you could argue Karsh stole the elements). Yeah, it used to be just over three pages- pathetic length! As for PS2, I think it's time to get one. My PS was making funny noises today when I was playing _Yu-Gi-Oh!: Forbidden Memories_ and even froze up once. Course, it's a hand-me-down from my cousin, so that might have something to do with it. But I know EXACTLY how I want to buy it (well, at least a start for an idea. . .)

Uftaki: Naw, ya'd think? But yes, there is a lot of character development here. For one, Garai IS alive in this one- the battle went differently because in addition to fighting the Dragoons, some men (Curtis was probably one of them) went looking for the escaped boys. Also, Curtis isn't demoted in this scenario because he knows they got help from an insider (Norris) and he is no longer being held accountable for the escape. Zippa is taking it better than Zappa- Zappa is depressed and cranky all the time. I won't say what's going on at Viper Manor (partly because it will spoil Person #6), though, but know that Riddel is still holding out for her friends. Well, what happened in CT according to the events in CC is hard to pinpoint- exactly what the hell did Crono and co. do to make a tiny fishing village into the big bad Porre?! Yeah, the mayor was greedy for a while but he wasn't THAT powerful- not nearly!

Rikku-oh-ki: Okee-dokee. 

Yukari: No, the captain wasn't Fargo, but we've established. Everyone's favorite pirate captain could be a bastard from time to time, but I don't think he'd sell a few helpless kids to the Mystics. Also, if you pay attention the ages, Nikki was four when the events in _Memories_ occurred- that means Marcy hasn't been born and Zelbess is still alive. So, if you listen to Nikki's lines on the SS Zelbess, you know that he remembered a kind and good-hearted father. So that means Fargo wasn't a cheap bastard and it COULDN'T be him! This also means that I know more about the storyline than I probably should (-_-*). Unfortunately, El Nido won't be that easy, and they'll figure that out soon enough. 

Alba: I know, I'm awful, aren't I? Yup- apparently the Mystics weren't made nice after the CT gang was done. Yeah, I think I made him TOO smart- it's hard to get into that six-year-old mindset sometimes. Well, they do bicker as they begin to get a feel for what they're doing. Curtis may get demoted, but since I explained that since Norris was involved they may not hold him accountable. Yeah- you have realize he'll be growing up under much different circumstances and, out of the entire bunch, he'll end up one of the craftiest with only ONE exception. Reason? He starts thieving at six- Dario and Karsh are thirteen and Norris is twelve. They're older and, therefore, more difficult to teach. Glenn's still untrained and can adapt easier because of his age. Kind of like how they say that children can learn a foreign language more easily at a young age and it gets harder as the years go on. 

Mana Angel: Thanks! I always get happy when I see the favorite author list number jump up. No pairings? There WILL be pairings, but they aren't the real focus of the story. One pairing that MIGHT show up (I'm still debating it) is a typical pairing and the other is EXTREMELY unconventional, unless you're Lena Ban Obsidian because she happens to like the idea of that particular pairing. Yes, there will be instances of childish antics (Dario: 'Karsh? Norris? What are you two doing with all this underwear? And where's the money?' Karsh & Norris: *whistling innocently* Naturally, that's just an example that may/may not show up). Thanks!

Okay, er, I'm stuck on the next part. But I have a ton of stuff mapped out for things down the line, such as cameo appearances and major heists/minor incidents thrown in for a good laugh. I just need to finish the next chapter, that's all. 

~Dixxy


	5. Chapter Four

Thieves

By Dixxy

Chapter Four

"Ye think this is it?" asked Karsh. A few days had passed, and the boys now stood outside of a simple house in the middle of the southwestern part of the continent. They'd spent what felt like forever trying to find the place that they thought might bring them help and now they were standing before a welcoming house covered in moss situated only about an hour or so from the beach.

"This must be it- the house isn't the same as any of the Mystic houses," said Norris. Slowly, he walked up to the front door and raised his hand, poised to knock. "Well, here goes nothing." With a deep breath, Norris rapped his fist on the door of the house and waited for a response.

Footsteps could soon be heard from inside the house. "Let's hope its Melchoir," Dario said dryly.

As if on cue, a short, stout man answered the door. He wore a blue suit with a blue hat and an orange sash around his shoulder, a wooden cane in one hand. Small, dark glasses sat on his nose, which was just above a mustache so big the boys couldn't see the man's mouth. "Hello? Who are you?"

Dario stepped up to the man and cleared his throat. "Well, my name is Dario," he introduced. He turned to his friend. "The guy with the purple hair is my friend Karsh, the tall blonde is Norris, and the shrimpy kid with the scar is my little brother, Glenn." Glenn took offense to the "shrimpy kid" comment, but didn't say anything.

The old man reached up to adjust his glasses. "Now what are you four kids doing here?"

"We're escaped slaves," Karsh blurted out. "Ozzie VIII wanted to sell Glenn off by himself and away from the rest of us, so we decided enough was enough and got out of there just a few nights ago. We only want to go home and we were hoping ye could help us, milord."

"Hmm. . ." the old man said as he scratched his chin as he thought this over. "You boys certainly have a problem on hand, don't you? Well, I will say this- while the Mystics usually don't bother me, I don't like them and I DESPISE the fact they've suddenly started this slavery practice of theirs. King Crono and Queen Marle worked years and years to try and convince them that we as humans only want piece but Ozzie VIII refuses to listen. It really is very sad."

"Worked? Why aren't they working now?" asked Glenn.

The old man paused. "You boys really must be escaped slaves if you haven't heard about the end result of the war with the Porres." The boys went silent, the three from El Nido wide eyed with fear as they wondered what happened to their fathers and friends. The old man cleared his throat, seeing he had hit some sort of a sensitive spot amongst the boys. "Why don't you boys come in for some tea and we'll swap tales."

Dario held an arm up. "Just one question," he said.

"You wish to know who I am, don't you?" said the old man. The boys nodded. "My name is Melchoir, and if you went out this way, I'm going to assume you either got lost or came looking for me as I'm the only human on this whole island that hasn't been enslaved." Dario nodded and Melchoir chuckled. "Well, come in, then! I haven't had good conversation in years!"

~

"So, from your understanding, King Crono saw that the Porres were going to win and sent the Dragoons home to protect El Nido?" said Dario. The four boys sat in the old man's study over tea and cookies as the old man told them what had happened during the war. As Melchoir nodded, Dario lowered his eyes and shook his head. "They were good, good people."

"They were," said Melchoir. "They knew it was over and wanted to save as many lives as they could. That's why General Viper and the Dragoons went home. So if you boys went to Guardia, you wouldn't find much help to get back home- it's under Porre control and, if you four are on the run from them, it wouldn't be a terribly bright idea to go rushing into that neck of the woods."

"So how do we git back to El Nido?" asked Karsh.

Melchoir sighed. "I have no idea, but it won't be easy. For one, you'll need money to buy boat tickets, right? How you kids plan to get that money is beyond me- from the sounds of it none of you are skilled in any form of work, so if you went into an unskilled job you'd be stuck there for a long time to come."

"Mr. Melchoir sir, do you have any ideas?" Glenn asked.

Melchoir laughed. "No need for formalities, little one," he said. He cleared his throat. "Well, no, I don't have any ideas. I live out of my garden because I'm not very welcome in the Mystic Marketplace. I used to travel to the mainland whenever the big fairs came around, but now there isn't much chance for that, is there?"

"No, there isn't," said Norris. "Oh, what are we going to do now?"

"We're free, but we have no where to go," said Dario. He crossed his legs and cleared his throat. "I don't think we're going to go back to the Mystics anytime soon, so from here we should probably try to get to the mainland- then we can see if we can figure something better out from there. So, unfortunately, we're playing it by ear."

"Great," said Karsh.

"If you have a better idea, say it!" said Norris.

"Stop fighting!" Glenn insisted. "It's not nice!"

"Who asked you!?"

"Both of you, shut up! He's right! We don't have TIME to be fighting like this! Don't you get it? Our next few moves are going to decide what happens to us for the rest of our lives! If we don't get to El Nido soon, we might NEVER get there!" Dario said sharply. Karsh and Norris quiet. "Look, I'm sorry I had to yell but it HAD to be done."

"He's right- getting back to El Nido won't be easy, and who's to say it won't be a few months until you even manage to get the money for it?" said Melchoir. "Most jobs don't hire kids your age. I don't know how you plan to survive, never mind get to El Nido!"

"You said MOST jobs," said Dario.

"Those jobs pay so little that by the time you save up enough money you'll be little old men and anyone you cared about would have either forgot about you or died," said Melchoir. He sighed heavily, scratching his chin. "Actually, I think I have an idea. I'm a weapon smith, and I could use a few sellers."

"You'd do that for us?!" said Karsh.

"You seem like nice kids. I go to Truce once a year to sell my wares- business will be slow considering what just happened, but I'm not getting any younger and some young kids could be a real help," said Melchoir. The boys looked at each other, silently discussing the prospect of working for Melchoir. All eyes turned to Dario, the others nominating him as their leader. Dario turned to the old man and grinned.

~

"There ye go, sir!" Karsh said, exchanging the neatly wrapped sword for the traveler's money. 

"We're making a lot of money," Glenn said in wonderment and he helped Norris keep track of the money made off of the sales. Melchoir had brought the boys to Truce, where they saw what was left of what had once been a great and prosperous city. Now, many of the buildings, including Guardia Castle, lay in charred ruins, a sign of the destruction that Porre had released on the people not that long ago. Porre soldiers patrolled the streets with their well polished rifles, adding to the already miserable atmosphere of the city.

However, some of the citizens had created an underground marketplace in what had once been a mine, where trade went on as normal. Things that Porre had banned, such as bars and pubs, were flourishing, and things that had been made illegal to sell, such as weapons, were also part of the hidden economy.

"Ooo. . . sorry, we just ran out of bows," said Dario, giving his customer a sympathetic frown. Then, he smiled. "Can I interest you in these throwing knives? Made of the finest Denadorite around! Dirt cheap at only 2000 GP! Sound like a deal?" The customer shook her head and walked off with a polite "no thank you". 

Melchoir was handling the buying part of the business, purchasing used weapons from travelers to re-forge into stronger, new weapons. "Have a good day, kind sir!" the old man wished the group. He turned to his four "employees". "We're doing good, boys. If we're lucky, we might have you on a boat bound for El Nido by the end of the week!"

Four pairs of eyes lit up with enthusiasm. Glenn cheered, scattering a few coins around the area they were situated in. Norris laughed at the reaction of the six-year old, then dropped to his knees to assist the child in picking up the coins, even though Glenn had most of them by that point. Karsh and Dario exchanged high fives with each other, and then tried to repeat the action with Melchoir, who was confused at the motion at first, but then caught on.

"Finally. . . we're going home!" Karsh said. "It's high time we got to go home!"

"I can't wait to see Daddy! I bet his misses us, Dario!" said Glenn.

"Do you think I'll be accepted?" asked Norris.

"Of course you will!" said Dario. "You're a great guy! How could they not?"

No sooner had the word "not" escaped Dario's lips, something catastrophic happened.

BANG! BANG!

Suddenly, the underground marketplace erupted into a fit of screaming, terrified people. The boys looked around in confusion, Glenn clinging to his brother as Karsh and Norris stood back to back, each having grabbed a weapon (an ax and a gun respectively) from the table by an act of instinct. "What's going on!?" asked Dario, looking to Melchoir for an explanation.

"The Porres are onto the operation!" he said. He quickly grabbed two swords and handed them to Dario. The oldest of the three blondes looked at the old man in confusion. "Here- take these. You boys have to get out of here before one of the Porres recognizes you. If worse comes to worse, you'll have to fight for your hides. Hurry! Run!"

"What about you, Melchoir?" asked Glenn as Karsh took him by the hand and began to run.

"Don't worry about me! Save yourselves!" Melchoir shouted as their small shop was plowed down by panic stricken shoppers, scattering tables and weapons across the ground. The old man in questioned was swallowed up by the crowd, and the boys saw nor heard him anymore. Not wanting to waste anymore time, the boys took each other's hands and began to snake their way through the panic-stricken crowd. 

Dario lead the way, one of the swords tucked into his belt and the other at the ready. Glenn was immediately behind his brother, holding both his and Karsh's hand. The purple haired boy hand stuffed his ax handle into the back of his belt, ready to draw if it came down to combat. Norris, the last in line, had a firm grip on Karsh's free hand, his free hand placed next to the gun that now sat at his waist.

Before long, the marketplace was set ablaze as the Porres began to set fire to some of the stands and permanent shops. Screams and gunshots filled the air as the terror continued. Bodies both injured and dead alike lay on the sidewalks, friends and families weeping over each other. The Porres showed no discretion in who they chose to attack.

Dario wanted to hurl. What he saw around his was a sick, twisted example of just what humans were capable of doing. Hurting one another. Killing each other. _Is this what you all start for, you Porre bastards? To ruthlessly destroy those who disagree with you and your radical ideas?_

"The exit!" Karsh screamed. "It's blocked off by Porre soldiers!"

Dario swore under his breath. "Then we have to find another way out!" he said. "C'mon!" He led the boys to the far left-hand side of the marketplace, where a few people were taking refuge from the attacks. Dario grinned. "Perfect," he said. He then began to lead them in the opposite direction of the exit.

"Where are we going?" Glenn asked.

"If this is a sewer system, maybe there's another exit on the far end of the tunnel!" Dario said. "Keep running! If even one Porre spots us we have to keep going or else we'll all be in deeper trouble than we can even begin to fathom!" No one argued with Dario's slightly panic influenced logic.

As they continued down the tunnel, they saw fewer and fewer people and fewer and fewer shops until eventually it was just them and the tunnel. Their footsteps seemed to bounce off the walls like the beating of a large drum, almost asking for a Porre soldier to come and investigate what the strange noise was. Dario bit his bottom lip to try and keep his cool in the horrible situation they were facing.

"Light!" Norris said. 

Dario had already seen what Norris had pointed out- the not-so-figurative light at the end of the tunnel. Tired legs wanted to speed up, but the aches and pains would not allow it, and the boys continued at their already quick pace towards the end of their long journey.

When the boys had finally reached the end of the tunnel, all fell to their knees, gasping and panting for air and a break from running. Karsh coughed, his head lowered as he stared at the ground. "Aye, we got away- thank the ancient Dragonians fer tha- we could ave been killed!"

"I think a lot of people were killed," said Norris, looking over his shoulder at the tunnel. Even as far as they'd come, screams and gunshots could still be heard. He winced. Was his father one of the men taking lives in that marketplace? _You shouldn't be in the least bit surprised, Nor- you know damn well that your father is a monster._

Glenn looked up at his older brother. "Is it safe yet?"

"No, it's not," said Dario. "We have to get to the woods before someone finds us- it's all open field out here. Someone's bound to find us, and if they're a Porre soldier that recognizes even one of us, then we're all in huge trouble. C'mon- we have to keep moving. I promise we can rest up once we reach the woods but not yet."

~

Did I make the marketplace massacre scene as powerful as I could have, or was it just missing that special something? Please tell me!!!

Uftaki: I'm not a huge Ozzie VIII fan, so I used him as a villain, and, chances are, he'll be back- trust me, the boys will be having a number of people mad at them by the time this fic is through. So far, they have Curtis and the entire Porre army, and now the Mystics of Medina. Who else will be after their hide? Ah. Damn the Records of Fate and Chronopolis. Forgot about that. And I've read some of that fic- I just couldn't sit down long enough to read the whole thing through. It's here on FF.Net, you know. In fact, I think it's on my favorites list.

Mana Angel: Oh? Now it's a race to review my new chapters first? Okay, whatever. While this fic will contain childish antics, it also contains some darker elements. You have to realize they're going from a lifestyle that would bring them all up to be proper gentlemen (well. . . at least in the cases of Dario, Norris, and Glenn, at the very least) and here their lives are taking a very dramatic change. An unconventional pairing is a pairing that steps outside of the norm. Let's take Steena for an example (if she's in the fic she'll be far from a main character, which is why I'm using her). Now, her most common boyfriend/significant other is Guile. This is a conventional pairing. An unconventional pairing would be, say, Grobyc/Steena, Pierre/Steena, Radius/Steena, Lynx/Steena, ect. A pairing as such will be used, though not nearly as extreme as these examples. Eh, that's okay, I've seen much weirder.

Tami: The factory? Hmm. . . try an FAQ at Gamefaqs.com- includes both the PS version (found under FF Chronicles) and the original SNES version. It's a good play- half of the jokes and plot elements in CC don't make ANY sense without playing through CT and getting through most of the side quests. For example, Heckran Bone- Heckran was a boss who was immune to everything but magic attacks in CT. Now he's a chew toy for Poshul. If you bring Leah with you to fight the final Time Devourer, she says she's going to name her daughter Ayla, which either means she's a) naming her kid after the Ioka village chief or b) is Ayla's mother. 

Rikku-oh-ki: Yup. It's something used a lot to help emphasize the point that Glenn and Frog are two different people. As for the parents thing, I was considering that. This is also a chance for me to play with other character relationships, too. One that I was thinking about was, strangely enough, Solt and Peppor- the only reason they got as far as they did (which, given, wasn't very far -_-*) was because KARSH helped them- Karsh isn't there anymore, so what happened to our favorite bumbling idiots? What about Riddel? Zoah and Marcy? General Viper? Luccia? Orcha? Any number of people could be affected by this change. Lavos in CT? Well for one, if you have him, don't bring Magus- his shadow magic only HEALS the bastard, which isn't fun. Typically, you'll want Crono as one of your party members, but be sure that he has the Rainbow on hand, as that helps out a lot. Frog is a good choice because he can use healing spells and can use the nifty Frog Squash attack and the Masamune, especially if you upgraded it by doing the Hero's Grave sidequest. As a third party member, I would use either Lucca or Ayla. Lucca gives the addition of fire based magic, and Ayla has Dino Tail and a fast speed. Marle is okay if you want to use Haste, but where most of her magic is healing and supplemental, you may wish to choose a different path. Now, for the first "form", he copies previous bosses, which he shows you briefly (though he's still Lavos). Once you figure out what to strike and how, beat through those bosses. The is the shell stage. Next is the core. Here, you really need to beat at him mercilessly until there's nothing left but the three bits of the inner core. One would think that your main goal is to kill the center bit, when in actuality, it's one of the side bits- the right one, think. Beat on the other two beats, then pound on that bit before it revives the other two bits. Real pain, but you get a cool background and awesome music throughout the whole process. Other than that, make sure you've leveled up into at LEAST the high fifties/low sixties for easiest Lavos thrashing. Have the best equipment you can (Moon Armor, Prism Dress, Rainbow Helms, ect). Good luck!

Chibi Raye-chan: Thanks! Ah, so I'm making you think? That's good. Aw, you flatter me. My list didn't get bumped up by one- it got bumped up by two, but one of them WAS you ^_^.

Alba: Ozzie hasn't done anything bad in your fic (yet). But now you're making me wonder. Ah, yes it is- they're falling and falling and falling down the social ladder, and they're so close to rock bottom it isn't funny. I agree- how can you not be a realist, or even a pessimist, with all this crap going on around you? He still jokes around a lot, so he'll end up a lot like Marco of _Animorphs_ in the sense that he's a mix of both worlds. No, no, no!!! Glenn isn't the first one to steal! That's not what I was trying to say! See, thing is, the ages I named off are the age at which they ALL begin to steal- Glenn is six when, for example, Karsh is thirteen, Norris is twelve, and Dario is thirteen or on the verge of fourteen. What I'm saying is that he's like raw material and he'll end up adapting faster than the other three because of that. I agree that Dario has a strong sense of justice, which is something he never gives up and you'll understand why as the fic progresses. Also, if you really want to argue, Karsh and Glenn HAVE stolen already- Karsh "borrowed" elements from Radius (though that was more of a childish antic than anything else) and in _Memories_ Glenn stole bread from the Porre pantry in a juvenile sense of justification. 

Iluvrikku12: Thanks! Oh, one of my RW fics? Er. . . yeah, that was supposed to have a sequel, like, two years ago or so when I actually wrote it. . . but. . . *sighs* that's a hard one to follow up.

Yukari: Bit? Which bits? *looks back in document* Oh! OH! Don't worry- I didn't spoil the worst part of the game. Yet. Dragon dudes? If you're talking about the six Dragon Gods. . . you missed that part, I'm afraid. Yeah, I'm hoping Dario comes off as cool in this fic.

Soulblighter2: Ah, hello there! Hmm, yes you have- the rest of _Marooned_ and all of this story. But that's okay. The development is going to be a mix of newer things and older things- for instance, they all have a pretty strong sense of right and wrong, which comes into play later- you'll get it when you see it. The two other thieves, who show up later, are more true to their original personas. 

Miso14: Thanks! Dark? This fic won't be totally dark, but yes, there is some thought-provoking comments. Yeah, I made Ozzie real bad, didn't I? I just want them to suffer. Oh, they THINK they might be going home, but they're a VERY far cry from it! The MINIMUM amount of time is fifteen years- from the day Glenn is kidnapped to the approximate time that the whole Serge/Chrono Trigger/Frozen Flame mess begins. 

I'm feeling REALLY moody, so I think the next chapter will visit everyone back home in El Nido and create some dramatic irony as. . . well. . . you'll see.

~Dixxy


	6. Chapter Five

Thieves

By Dixxy

Chapter Five

~

Meanwhile, back in El Nido. . .

~

Quiet. 

Too. Damn. Quiet.

_Wasn't there a time that I wanted quiet?_ Garai wondered aimlessly as he stared up at the ceiling of the small cottage he called home. _I used to yell at the boys to keep quiet when they were running around during the wee hours of the morning. . . always got to upset when Eileen nagged me to fix one thing or another. . . by the Ancient Dragonians I didn't know what I had back then!_ The legendary Deva stood and sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. 

Grumbling, Garai stood and began to search for a pair of pants and a tunic- he couldn't sleep on this one-year anniversary of his sons' disappearance. A hoard of ideas clouded his mind, wondering what had happened to them and their best friend, Karsh. Once he found the desired clothing, he took the Einlanzer, sheathed it, and stepped out into the cold.

The cold reflected his attitude perfectly. Ever since that fateful trip to Guardia, he'd found himself feeling more miserable than he ever had in his entire life. It had been bad enough to loose his wife to the sudden and mysterious disease that had taken her away from him and the boys, but now that the boys had been spirited away by some strange and unknown force, he wasn't sure what to do with himself. The General hadn't let him nor Zappa into battle during the war because of their distraught dispositions. 

Days had passed, and still no sign of his children. Several weeks later, King Crono had told the Dragoons to pull out while they still could. Garai and Zappa had not wanted to return, still hoping and praying that their sons were out there, trying to get back to them. It had taken a direct order from General Viper to send them back to El Nido. Garai vaguely remembered arguing profusely about it with the General, hotly adding in that he still had his child. 

And now things were looking even worse. 

A full year had passed since they first made port in Guardia. The kingdom had fallen shortly after they left, and it was assumed that the monarchs were dead. It wasn't long after that Viper decided that they had been missing long enough to be declared dead as well. That had been news three parents had not taken well, as was to be expected.

Radius refused to believe the news of the children's passing. "Those kids are still out there- Porre or no Porre, they'll find a way to survive, Garai. No sons of Garai or Zappa are going to fall THAT easy, even at twelve and five years old! Have a little faith in them, Garai- if anyone can survive out there, it'd be those three."

Zappa was taking the loss extremely hard. Karsh had been his only son- the one who would take his place when he retired. The one who would follow in his footsteps and look up to him. Even with Zippa to share his misery in, Zappa soon lost all interest in everything but sitting in Karsh's room on the boys bed, staring at the various items in the room.

Riddel seemed to hold out for them, must like Radius was. She disagreed wholeheartedly with her father's decision to pronounce them dead. "You shouldn't say anything unless you have three bodies that you can confirm belong to those three!" she had argued. "I refuse to believe my best friends are all dead! I refuse to believe it! They aren't dead! They're alive! I know they are! They wouldn't leave me!"

Garai was torn between the two sides. While General Viper had good reason to believe that the boys were, indeed, dead, Riddel and Radius has their points as well- no bodies what so ever and no evidence that something had happened to them at all. His mind said dead, but his heart yearned for alive and well.

In addition to the mourning of the one year passing, Garai was seriously considering leaving the Dragoons. Between the consecutive blows to his personal life, his age catching up with him, and the impending dangers of Porre, he was starting to loose his touch. Even with the Einlanzer he was just barely meeting the standards of the private Dragoons who used swords. His concentration, flexibility, and strength were fading.

"Face it, Garai- it is over," he said to himself. "You fought a long, hard battle, but now it is the time to call it quits." Garai bit his bottom lip and looked up at the two moons in the sky. "Yes. Tomorrow you will speak with the General about your resignation from the Dragoons. I am sure he will find a suitable replacement."

"HEY!"

Garai looked up. What was that? _Something's amiss,_ he thought to himself as he began to jog towards the source of the sudden shout. _Who in their right mind is out at this hour of the night? Yourself excluded, old Garai. But that sounded like a bunch of young kids! Now THEY shouldn't be out at this hour!_

The Deva soon found the source of the commotion. Three older teenagers and ganged up on another teenager, who, strangely enough, was wearing a metal bucket on his head. The "masked" youth was backed into the corner of an alleyway as his pursuers began to close in on him, all slapping weapons ranging from large sticks to a rather well-worn Granite Glove. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"HEY!" Garai cried, unsheathing the Einlanzer. At the sound of the metal being removed from its temporary resting place, the three who had cornered their prey all froze, each turning around to face the Deva one by one. Garai grinned dangerously- no matter HOW out of practice he was getting, he knew he could take three punk teenagers. And he knew that these boys knew very well that he had the skill and strength to do so.

"I would suggest that the three of you leave this young man alone before I am forced to show you the TRUE powers of the Einlanzer on your worthless hides. I will give you until the count of ten. One-" Three girlish shrieks and two puddles of urine on the ground later, the attackers fled, leaving Garai alone with their victim. He turned his head and began to yell after them. "Cowards! Worthless cowards!" Naturally, they continued to run. "Cowards," he spat one last time. Taking in a heavy breath, Garai turned his attention to the strange, bucket-headed youth, who was looking at him through two holes in the make-shift helmet. 

"THANK YOU. . . SIR GARAI, IS IT?"

Garai turned to the boy whom he'd just saved. "You can stop yelling now, young man," he said, re-sheathing the blade. "You are safe now. They have gone- I chased them off." He chuckled to himself, leaning against the side of a building. Despite the somber mood of the night, he couldn't help but find a little bit of satisfaction in chasing off the gang of boys. "When you're a Deva you have that impression on people."

"WHO'S YELLING?"

". . . do you speak like that all the time?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

Garai sighed heavily. "Never mind. May I ask your name?"  
"I AM KNOWN AS ZOAH."

"Zoah?" asked Garai. "Well, I am, indeed, Sir Garai. Please, called me Garai." He extended a hand, which Zoah nervously took. "Now, would you care to enlighten me as to why those young man ganged up on you? Is it something to do with your. . . ah. . . choice of unusual headgear?"

"YES AND NO," the boy replied. "BUT WHY DO YOU CARE?"

"Because, as a Deva, I work for the best interest of the people of El Nido, and I only want to know what your problem is so that perhaps I can help you rectify it," he explained kindly. He sat down on a garbage can, looking at the boy with sincere interest. "Tell me about yourself, Zoah."

Zoah sat across from Garai on a box. Because of his helmet, the Deva could not see the boy's expression, but he could sense a little bit of bewilderment. "WELL, MY NAME IS ZOAH, AS I SAID. I'M FOURTEEN YEARS OLD AND I'M RATHER. . . LARGE. . . FOR MY AGE."

"You are fourteen?" Garai asked in surprise. "You look so much older."

"I KNOW. NO ONE ASSOCIATES WITH ME BECAUSE OF IT- THEY ARE AFRAID OF ME," said Zoah. His sighed heavily, creating a sort of echo when doubled with the sound of the bucket on his head. "THEY'RE ALL AFRAID I'LL BEAT THEM UP BECAUSE I'M SO BIG AND BRAWNY."

"And they bucket?" Garai inquired.

"AFTER MY MOTHER DIED TWO YEARS AGO MY FATHER BLAMED ME FOR HER DEATH AND HAS BEGUN TO HATE ME WITH A VERY BITTER PASSION SINCE THEN," said Zoah. He looked up, bringing the bucket with him as he did so. "I DON'T KNOW WHY- I'D NEVER HURT MY MOTHER. I LOVED HER DEARLY. BUT MY FATHER DOESN'T SEE THAT SO EASILY AFTER HE'S HAD A FEW WHISKEYS. HE'S GOTTEN A FEW REAL NASTY SMACKS ON MY FACE AND I'M AFRAID TO SHOW THE MARKS."

Garai looked at Zoah with renewed interest. "He beats you?"

"YES."

"Do you not fight back to defend yourself?" asked Garai. 

The boy jerked backwards, and even though he couldn't see a face, the Deva could almost picture what his expression must have been. "HE IS MY FATHER- I CAN'T HIT HIM! HE MAY BE CRUEL AND HE MAY HATE ME, BUT I HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO HIM AS HIS ONLY SON!!! EVEN IF I COULD, I CAN'T- I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIGHT," said Zoah. He sighed heavily. "I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE."

"Well, for starters, we should get you out of that house- the General has zero tolerance for such abuse," said Garai, standing up. "If you would like, I can take you to Viper Manor now and can discuss your case." He extended a hand to the teenager, who looked up at him. "What he's doing is wrong, and we fix it."

"DO YOU MEAN THAT?"

"Yes."

Zoah took a moment to think this over. "I DO NOT KNOW. THIS IS, AFTER ALL, MY FATHER. IS IT RIGHT FOR ME TO TURN HIM INTO THE GENERAL LIKE THAT?" he asked. "SIR GARAI- GARAI- I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW!"

"I realize this is a difficult decision for you, but please- this is for your own safety," said Garai. "If you do not wish to see General Viper, then at the very least I extend an invitation to spend the remainder of the night in my cabin- I will feed you and supply you with a warm bed. It is the least I can do. You seem to be a nice kid and it is a shame that your father is doing this to you."

"GARAI, I APPRECIATE THE OFFER, BUT MAY I ASK WHY YOU'RE BEING SO KIND TO ME WHEN YOU BARELY EVEN KNOW ME?" Zoah asked, standing up. "I ACCEPT YOUR OFFER, BUT THIS CONFUSES ME. NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN THIS KIND TO ME FOR A VERY LONG TIME."

"Your father has no idea what he has," said Garai with a heavy heart and sunken eyes. He turned his gaze to Zoah, who still seemed confused with his kindness. Garai smiled. "Let us leave it at that for now- perhaps I will tell you the entire story later. But for now, let us get you a place to sleep."

~

The following morning, Garai had convinced Zoah to at least go to Viper Manor and meet the General. "ARE YOU SURE THIS IS A GOOD IDEA, GARAI?" asked Zoah. "WHAT IF THE GENERAL DOESN'T BELIEVE ME? WILL HE PUNISH ME IF HE THINKS I'M LYING?"

Garai chuckled. "General Viper? No! Of course not!" They had arrived at the front gates of the Manor. Seeing that a Deva was silently asking for admittance, the guards on duty opened the huge iron gates, letting Garai and his companion through. While Zoah received a few strange looks, no on dared comment for fear of Garai's wrath. 

And Garai's wrath could lead to Viper's Wrath.

Which was worse.

Zoah looked around in amazement as privates and other ranks in the Dragoons practiced their techniques around him, mesmerized by the beautiful yet deadly dances they performed. A slash of a sword. A swing of an ax. The firing of a bow. A punch with a glove. "WOW. . ." he said. "GARAI, THIS IS AMAZING! THEY'RE ALL REALLY GOOD!"

"They practice all the time," said Garai. He led them to the front door and opened the door, leading the city boy into the grand front hall. Zoah gasped as he saw his reflected in the well polished marble floor, not seemed to believe what he was seeing. Garai couldn't help but chuckle- Zoah's reaction was nearly identical to the reactions of both Dario and Glenn when they went to the Manor for the first time that they could recall something. 

Garai's heart pained at the thought.

"GARAI?"

"I will. . . be all right," he said softly. "Come. We need to cross the banquet hall and to get to the second floor to the his office." Still, Zoah could sense something wrong with the Deva. The teenager made a mental note of this and continued to follow Garai through the manor. 

"Garai?"

Garai looked up to see that the General was already in the banquet hall, discussing something with Radius. "General Viper," he said. Gently, he put an arm around Zoah's shoulder and brought him forward. "This is Zoah- he is a youth from Termina who would like to speak with you about something rather serious."

Radius raised an eyebrow. "May I ask what's with the bucket?"

"I WOULD RATHER NOT DISCUSS IT," Zoah said.

General Viper cleared his throat. "Could you please tone it down?"

"WHAT?"  
"Um. . . that would be the quietest he gets, sir," said Garai. "But please, speak with him."

"All right, young Zoah- follow me into my office."

~

Garai watched from a distance as Zoah practiced on the wooden dummy in the side yard with his bare fists. _He has so much raw energy and strength. . . he could make a dangerous Dragoon someday if he wanted to do that,_ Garai thought absently. _Just like my boys could've been._

It had been a full month since Zoah had spoken with General Viper. As Garai expected, this did NOT sit well with the leader of El Nido- he ordered a captain to visit the house to do some investigation. The captain returned sooner than expected to report that the boy's father had died of an apparent alcohol overdose. Zoah took the news strangely well, not seeming to care one way or the other.

However, that didn't change the fact that Zoah was an orphan without a place to go. In response, Radius had offered to adopt him as his own child. That was something that Garai saw a very good thing- Zoah needed a legal guardian, and Radius, who had never married, had always wanted children. Things couldn't have worked out better for the two, and that, at the very least, was a good thing.

"He's doing better than I thought he would," said Radius.

"He has quite a bit of spunk," said Garai with a slight smile. "Learns quite fast."

Radius nodded. "Yes, he does. If he practices hard enough he could have a secure career with the Dragoons- Viper would love to his someone of his size and strength." He chuckled to himself. "He's a good kid- didn't deserve the father he was given. Such a pity that this had to happen to the poor boy."

Garai lowered his eyes. "I still say that man had no idea what a gift he had been given."

Radius nodded in agreement. "Children are, indeed, a precious gift. Now I wouldn't exactly call Zoah 'precious' in his current state of growth, but I could never comprehend what you and Zappa and Zippa and Eileen must have felt for the boys. Even though I have adopted him, it will never be a normal family relationship."

"Protect him with your life, my friend," said Garai. He looked upwards, tears coming from his eyes. "No matter how strong nor skilled he may be right now, he is not invincible, nor will he ever be. . . protect him. Because you never know, Radius, just when you might loose him."

Radius placed a hand on his shoulder. "I promise you, Garai, I will."

"Cha!"

Radius and Garai looked up to see the Viper Manor cook, Orcha, walking past their house with his son, Korcha, receiving a piggy back ride from his father. The small boy seemed very excited, repeating his favorite word over and over again as he waved brightly at the two Devas. "How goes it, Orcha?" Radius called.

"Oh, just fine! How 'bout CHA?" the chef called back. 

"Feel free to come into the yard!" Garai invited. "You and your family are welcome here any time." Orcha nodded, walking into the yard. He gave his son a bounce, causing the child to explode into a fit of giggles. Garai smiled- he remembered doing that very activity with both of his boys when they were small. 

"What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Radius asked.

"Actually, I was coming to buy a new frying pan," said Orcha, sheepishly holding up a twisted and bent frying pan that was easily beyond repair. Korcha giggled, pointing at the pot. "Er. . . the misses got a little upset with me- and CHA can see what happens when she gets mad."

Radius shook his head. "She's a good woman, Orcha- don't complain just yet."

"Oh, believe me, I don't- she's almost as good of a cook as I am!"

"I would not doubt it," said Garai. "Are you coming from the Manor?"

"Yes I am," said Orcha. He expression. "The General just made a BIG decision."

"He did?" asked Radius. "What on?"

"The port of El Nido has been closed to everyone but registered merchants."

~

. . . hmm, kinda sucks to be Dario, Glenn, Karsh, and Norris right about now, huh? This is going to make getting back to El Nido a LITTLE harder.

In my version of _Chrono Cross_, as Norris explained earlier, merchants are separate from society. They don't count as citizens from any country and, in a way, they're their own country. It gets explained better later on.

I didn't plan for Zoah to take so much of the spotlight in this chapter, but I wanted to give him a little bit of background as well. As more "El Nido" chapters pop up you'll get to see him move through the ranks of the Dragoons in addition to seeing more of people like Riddel and Zappa and Zippa. We'll eventually see even more characters as they make appearances and the like. 

JVTruman: Oh, thank you. He didn't absorb Dark Matter? Well, I recall him absorbing one or more of Magus' attacks at some point or another. Well. . . bah, sorry about that. You knew what I meant, right? Right?

Rikku-oh-Ki: I don't blame you- I always feel so. . . empty. . . after beating a game. Cahr relations? Oh, oh, CHAR relations. Yes- things will DEFINITELY be changing between different character relationships. Two big differences already is the presence of Garai and the closing of the port of El Nido to all but merchants. Riddel? Hmm. Don't wanna spoil that one. Yes, as you can see, it was in El Nido. But I didn't hit all the characters who would be affected. For example, in the world, there will be only ONE reality, and I'll explain that a little later once I work out all the tiny little details.

ChibiRaye-chan: Well, he IS six years old here and TWENTY in the game, so yeah, he'd be a little more childlike ^_^. Agreed.

Alba: Well, don't rule Melchoir out yet because even I'm not sure what'll happen to him- I'm stuck between about fifty ideas for what happens to everyone as the end of the story draws nearer. Dario was given two swords- Melchoir probably meant the second one to be for Glenn when he got older. You have plans for the purple blob, don't you? Yeah, Marco was pretty cool. Well, you'll see who steals first. Yeah, that was a little moody there, wasn't it?

Tami: Aw, you did? Er. . . what game again? o_O Dixxy is confused! Ooo, I love doing that. Going to used book stores is kinda like that, too. _Thieves_ is assuming that you've at least played a good deal of _Chrono Cross_ and that you're a little familiar with _Chrono Trigger_. Yeah, I know it's tami, but Microsoft Word doesn't like that (since it's at the beginning of a phrase it capitalizes it automatically) and the capital letter makes it easier for me to hunt down the name if I need to refer back to an old comment. 

Lena: You heard me. Moody. I think you hit the nail on the head there, and I might go back and revise it sometime later. But not now- I gotta get cracking on the next chapter. Normally I have a few chapters ready to roll but I don't have the next chapter done yet. Bah! I'm falling behind! Hmm, interesting view on Melchoir. Truth be told he would be smart enough to do that or something similar. Yes, kind of a sad observation Norris made back there, huh? He might've been affected, and probably was. But at this point he's probably USED to psychological trauma (kidnapped, tortured, sold as a slave, ect.). Melchoir was a character in _Chrono Trigger_, but since I have a good idea as to where you are in the game I'm not going to reveal what his true significance was, cause it's bigger than what you would pick up here. What I will say is that he was a weapon-smith who lived near Medina and met with the CT cast numerous times throughout the game. Yeah, his mustache is awesome. No, Dario will NOT be like Ryo from the NA version of RW. While he occasionally gets caught off guard by some of the trouble the others get into, but for the most part he's pretty dead serious on what they're doing, though even he has fun every so often. Karsh has a whole ax, but just like in any other self-respecting video game, they do get upgrades as time goes along. Yeah, my cliffhangers are getting better in my RW works as well. I've pissed off some of my RW readers quite a number of times over the course of the last story, which, I realized, technically has the most reviews. While FF.Net says 118, tying it with _Marooned_, I forgot that I had posted it, received three reviews, took it down after saving the reviews, re-posted it, and copied the reviews back into it, making the grand total 120 reviews as opposed to 118. I'll try, Leena.

Uftaki: Yeah, "Nor" comes up infrequently, especially between him and Karsh. Melchoir and his fate are still undecided. Yeah, it did need more- Lena Ban Obsidian pointed that out. Of course it should've occurred. Technically they all do, but Glenn isn't ready for his yet. 'twas, wasn't it?

Mana Angel: Thanks! And I will!

The next chapter highlights the first thievery and why. 

~Dixxy


	7. Chapter Six

Thieves

By Dixxy

Chapter Six

Grr. . .

"What was that?" Norris asked, suddenly jerking up from his half-asleep position.

"Me stomach- sorry, Nor."

"No, no, that's okay, Karsh, I'm hungry, too," said Norris, lying back down on the leaf covered ground. He shivered in the cold, trying to take as much heat from his clothing as he could. The four boys had spent most of the day in the woods, sitting quietly in a small circle of trees. It was cramped, moist, and very, very cold. Glenn was cuddled up to his brother in a desperate search for warm, but even the brothers weren't finding any warmth that night.

"We can't go on like this forever," Dario said, his arms folded as he tried to create warmth. He unfolded his arms to place his hands together, quickly rubbing them back and fourth. Glenn looked up at him with chattering teeth, attempting to mimic the motion. In the end, he ducked back into his brother's shoulder, shaking with a bad chill.

"This isn't good- if we don't find someplace better to sleep then one of us if going to catch a cold or worse- I suggest we find someplace else to sleep. Someplace that we can build a fire without worry of a forest fire on our hands," said Norris. "Besides, if we're this cold, it's dangerous to sleep- we may never wake up."

This logic was enough to get everyone to their feet. Hugging themselves tightly, the four boys began to tromp through the woods in search of shelter. Dario took the lead, keeping an arm around his brother as they trekked on. Glenn's eyes were only half open as his body occasionally trembled. Karsh looked either way, trying to see if he could spot any sign of danger, such as a large animal or, even worse, a Porre soldier. Norris kept a nervous hand on the gun Melchoir had given him, as if waiting for a good time to use it.

"Cave," Karsh said, pointing to an opening in a large rock. Not questioning the suggestion, the boys hurried towards the cave and ducked inside, hoping to gain warmth in this small safe haven. Once inside, Norris and Dario began to try and build a fire while Karsh stood watch at the cave's entrance. 

"Dario. . . I don't feel very good," said Glenn.

Just as the two older blondes had finished the job, Dario looked at his little brother. "Glenn? What's wrong?" he asked. Glenn blinked at his older brother weakly, his eyes drooping as his small body began to sway. The elder brother watched in horror as his baby brother fainted away. Dario rushed to his brother's side, cradling him in his arms. "Glenn! GLENN!!!"

"By the Ancient Dragonians!" Karsh said. "What happened to 'em!?"

Norris scrambled from his seat to look at the youngest member of the group. "What happened to him?" he asked. Dario shot Norris a look. "Okay, okay, stupid question. Let me rephrase that- WHY did he faint?" The Porre boy put his hand against Glenn's forehead and bit his lip. "He's burning up!"

"What the 'ell is going on?" asked Karsh.

"He must be coming down with something," said Norris. He sat up, looking at Glenn with worry. "The cold and the lack of food probably did it- that or he decided to eat some berries while we weren't looking." He grimaced. "Hopefully it's something that rest and relaxation won't cure."

"But if 'e doesna get anything to eat then 'e won't have any energy to fight back with," said Karsh. "We also need to warm 'im up a bit or else 'e could git even sicker." He whimpered. "We kinna do this, Dario- we kinna survive here on our own like this. We could all die."

"No!" said Dario as he defiantly shook his head. "No one's dying! No one!"

"Dario, none of us wants anyone to die, but if we don't figure out how we're going to survive from now until we get to El Nido then that's exactly what's GOING to happen!" Norris snapped back. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the younger of the two brothers. Karsh was leaning over Glenn, who, though still unconscious, had a slightly pained look on his face. "I'm going to find a pond or something- he needs water."

"I'm going to try and figure out what to do- there's a small village nearby, right?"

"Well, yeah- Corinaw," said Norris, blinking. "Dario, what-"

"I'm going to find help," he said. 

"Dario, no, that's not-" Norris started.

"Don't worry- I'll be back!" And with that, he was gone.

~

As opposed to the other towns of the Zenan mainland, Corinaw was small and rather insignificant. None of the houses seemed to consist of any more than four rooms, all made of some sort of a mud-clay and painted vibrant colors that seemed to contrast with the normal, everyday colors the citizens actually wore. In a way, it reminded Dario of Arni in its simple ways and means. The people seemed to all know each other, greeting pretty much EVERYONE they encountered. Even the cats and dogs seemed to get along well. 

_Do these people even realize what the world is coming to? Porre could stomp over this town any second without a problem! There wouldn't be anything left, yet they go on as if they don't know what's going on,_ Dario thought as he wandered the main street of the small village. It had taken him until dawn to reach Corinaw to try and find a way to save his little brother and friends. 

"WHO'RE YOU!?"

Dario nearly screamed as he realized a large, over-weight woman was yelling at him. This monsters of a woman was the very definition of ugly, complete with round, warty nose and unsightly liver spots to boot. With the drab, wool dress and apron she wore, she looked quite frightening. "Uh, uh, I'm just a traveler! Honest!" he said, holding his hands up in defense. "My, my-"

"Get out of this town!" the woman shouted. "You don't belong here!"

"This isn't your place!" another man chimed in.

"What are you people talking about!?" Dario asked. "Please, my brother is-"

"We don't care what he is- Corinaw doesn't welcome strangers," a young girl his age said. She sauntered up to Dario, glaring at him with deep, emerald eyes as she idly twirled curly red hair. She stuck her nose in the air. "We here don't welcome outsiders- you aren't like us and we don't like that."

"Why?" asked Dario. "Why won't you please help me?"

"You don't DESERVE our help!" said the same woman as before.

"What makes you believe that?!" asked Dario.

"Because you are not a native of this town." All looked up as a tall, thin old man began to walk towards Dario. He was wobbly and unbalanced, the cane he used shaking with each step he took. The old man stopped before the youth, looking him over with beady black eyes. "You see, we the people of Corinaw are a healthy, happy bunch. And do you know why? Because we don't let our children breed outside of the population of this town. That keeps our future children safe. You, you're an attractive young man. You could sway one of our young lady's gazes and soil her children with your unclean heritage."

Dario fumed. "Unclean!?" he said.

"Yes- unclean," said the old man. "Do what you must do, but please leave as quickly as possible."

Biting his lip, Dario fell to his knees and clasped his hands together in a begging position. "Please, please! My younger brother has fallen ill! I'm afraid he might die! I only came here to find supplies to make him better! I have no money but I will do everything in my limited power to repay you all if you help him! Please! He's only a child!"

The old man scoffed. "A child who, if he is your brother, may grow up to be as attractive as you. Someone who may sway more of our lass' gazes. No, we will not help you nor your brother- since you have no money, then I would suggest you leave as quickly as you came here, maggot."

Slowly, Dario stood. "Fine. If that's how you ignorant fool feel, then be my guest," he said, turning on his heels and he stomped through the streets. "Good riddance to you all! If you insist on being such stuck-up imbeciles than maybe I don't have a reason to be here at all!" And then he began to run. _Glenn. . . I'm sorry. . ._

~

Dario didn't want to go back to the others empty handed. If he did, that meant certain doom for his little brother and his friends. Then all hope was lost. _But if I don't come back, there isn't any hope anyways. So what's the point in going back or not going back, anyways? We're all gonna die- it's too soon to go back to Truce, and those awful snobs in Corinaw. . . BASTARDS!_

The youth in question was curled up in a ball at the base of a tree just outside of Corinaw. "How. . . how can you hate everyone but your own people?" Dario thought to himself. "How can you shut everyone else out, even when they need your help?" He closed his eyes and turned his head. "Something tells me I'm not the only person who's suffered because of your snobby attitudes."

_But you can't let them down. You told them no one would die. There has to be a way to save them all! We have to survive! We have to get to El Nido! It doesn't matter how anymore! There just HAS to be a way to get back home! And whatever it is I'm going to find it! One way or another. . . I WILL SAVE MY FRIENDS!_

. . . there is, one way. . .

Dario's eyes snapped open. "No. . ."

_. . . only one way. . . you know there is no other choice. . ._

Confused and frightened, Dario placed his hands on his head. "No! I can't do it!"

_. . . do you want your brother to die? . . . or do you want him to live?. . ._

"But. . . I can't. . ."

_. . . you know you can. . ._

Slowly, Dario began to walk towards the village. He set his gaze on the village and nodded to himself. There WAS only one way to survive. He bit his bottom lip and lowered his head. "I don't want to do this, but I have no choice," he said. Fighting tears, Dario began to sprint towards the village.

~

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Norris. Karsh looked up at Norris with a worried expression. Nearly a full day had gone by since their friend had left. Glenn only seemed to be getting progressively more worse as time passed on, yet Dario had yet to return. "Oh just peachy. Can't something POSITIVE happen for once, or are we all damned to find ourselves in even BETTER situations for the rest of our damn lives?"

"Dinnae give up on Dario yet- he'll come up with somethin'," said Karsh. "Trust me."

Norris sighed heavily. He wanted to believe Karsh, but as time went on, it was getting harder and harder to believe that they would actually not survive. _I trust Dario. I may not know him as well as Glenn and Karsh, but I trust him- if anyone can find a way to survive, then he can. I know it. Karsh is right- we just have to trust Dario._

The sound of footsteps brought both of the other boys to attention. There, standing in the entrance of the cave, was a hooded figure carrying a basket. Norris jumped to his feet, his eyes widening in happiness. "Dario?" he asked. "Is that you? Did you come through for us?"

The figure lowered their hood, and, much to Karsh and Norris' relief, Dario was revealed. He had a sad look in his face as he walked into the cave. "Yes, Norris- I brought food and medicine." He knelt down beside his little brother. Karsh backed away, letting Dario be with his brother. Glenn whimpered, but still didn't wake up. Dario produced a small bottle. "It's a potion called a Heal- it works kind of like a Panacea, only stronger, and it isn't an Element." Dario popped the cork and poured it into his brother's mouth. 

"My mother used those on me often when I was a child before Elements started getting imported from El Nido," said Norris. He knelt down. "How did you find out about them? Those kinds of potions haven't been used for thousands of years in El Nido! They've relied on Elements for so long-"

"There ARE instructions on the bottle," said Dario, holding up the now empty bottle. He tossed it to Norris with a sort of melancholy smile on his face. "I knew exactly what it did once I found it." He dug into the basket and produced several loaves of bread, a medium sized wheel of cheese, and a large chunk of something wrapped in paper. "Eat up, if you dare."

Norris looked at the food in wonder. "Wow, Dario, someone was sure generous."

"Ay'll say- this is a nice loaf of bread," said Karsh, scratching his head in wonderment. 

Before Dario could utter another word, the group heard Glenn making sounds. Slowly, he sat up, blinking dizzily. "Ooo. . . my head. . ." he said. Drearily, he started to fall backwards again, only to have Dario catch him. Glenn looked up at his brother and laughed. "Dario! Where ya been?"

"Hey! It worked!" said Karsh. "Nice going, Dario!"

Glenn blinked in confusion as he sat up, leaning on Dario for support. "What worked?"  
"The medicine Dario got for you- you fell ill last night," said Norris. He laughed. "You don't remember anything, do you?" Glenn shook his head, causing the former Porre to ruffle his hair. "That doesn't matter- we were worried about you, but you're doing much better now."

"Aye still need ta know somethin', Dario," said Karsh.

"Where I got the food, medicine, basket, and cloak?" said Dario.

"Yeah- you said you wanted to go to Corinaw. They have a bad reputation for being so obsessed with themselves that they shun even the most desperate of travelers," said Norris. "You must've gone somewhere else to get that, right? They'd NEVER be that generous if they thought you wanted to 'pollute' their 'pure' gene pool."

"Nope, I went to Corinaw," said Dario with a heavy sigh.

"Then, if they're such stuffy people, then why did they give you all this stuff?" asked Glenn.

Dario looked at the floor of the cave in shame. "Because I stole it."

~

Finally got that chapter done! I thought I'd NEVER get through it! Now I can actually start pulling from that notebook of mine! Whee!

Uftaki: Yes, that was kind of sappy and mushy, I know. Yup- that's the way Zappa is in this story until/if he meets up with Karsh sometime late in the fic. Er, cute? Eh, I dunno about cute, but yes, that is the reason. Continuing to wear the helmet? Could be a symbol of shame, or, perhaps he was very badly disfigured by the beatings and chooses to hide that. Yes, El Nido people show up every so often.

Rikku-oh-ki: Well, no, not officially, to my knowledge. That WAS, however, the story used in the lovely Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross bridging fic about the events that followed Lucca finding Kid to right before Serge enters Viper Manor. Whether or not it holds any official merit is beyond me, though some fandoms with little character developments pull from fanfics to build their own. For example, in Ronin Warriors, one of the boys, Sage, is stereotyped as a notorious flirt. In actuality, he had an older and younger sister who tormented him while growing up, so he's edgy around girls because he's afraid of more humiliation. But because someone decided to make Sage a flirt in their story, WHOOSH! Sage is girl crazy everywhere! And I NEED to stop talking about Sage because I tried to type "Serge" almost every time his name appears in this response. I wanna play Kingdom Hearts! But hopefully I'll get a PS2 before it goes obsolete. I know who Chichiri is, though I've never seen FY. Someday. . .

Chibi-Raye: Oh yeah! You have the really weird-ass fic who threatens to not give Glenn cookies. (Mmm. . . cookies. . .). Zoah's ignored a lot, as well as most of the other characters. Still, there's been more Janice fics as of late, and I'm sure other less-appreciated characters will soon follow. Not that there aren't fics about these characters, but those are the obscure fics you read out of boredom that end up weirding you out, like Amanda Swiftgold's Grobyc origin story (though I'll say that most of her fics will weird you out, even the humor ones. . .). You know, I've done some REAL nasty crap to some of my favorite characters, but not giving milk with cookies is UNACCEPTABLE!!!

Alba: Yeah, I want everyone to feel bad for Garai. Yes, he IS very much what one could call under appreciated. Well, the news had to get to them somehow, you know? Pierre is. . . Pierre. Yeah, tell me about it- too many ideas can be evil. I just have one question- male or female? No, I'm serious- for a while I wasn't sure what Miso14 was, either. The name could go either way!

Oh, and by the way. . . **_BLONDE, DAMMIT_**!!!!

Harle is the best: What!? I like length reviews!? Eh, Harle? Actually, the chances are very, very good- she hasn't appeared in my off-line crap copy, but that's only a place where I stick my ideas. 

Yukari: *nods* K. And. . . o_O.

Okay, I want everyone to go and read Alba's story (minus Alba, because he/she is too busy writing it), _Lost and Found_. No one's reading it and it's really, really good! Oh, sure, you have something that will royally tick off a lot of you, but the more support he/she gets, the faster he/she will update!!! Got it? Good. Now go!

And while you're at it, go read _The Porre Affair_ and leave SB2 a review. Why? Because I'm way overdue for a plug on that story, anyways. 

The bold, italics, and underlined phrase is something I didn't really expect a whole lot of you to get. That's okay. 

~Dixxy


	8. Chapter Seven

Thieves

By Dixxy

Chapter Seven

"You. . . you WHAT!?" Norris said, staring at Dario in shock.

Dario turned away, his whole body quivering as he began to explain himself. "The people of Corinaw are like you said they were- cold hearted and cruel, only concerned about each other and their pure blood." He turned his head. "It's too dangerous to go to Truce just yet, even if we DO have weapons- none of us can use them well enough to stand up to a fully-trained Porre soldier. Porre is even MORE dangerous, and I don't think any of us want to go to Medina or Choras. Corinaw was the only choice, and it was the only way we were going to eat."

"But Dario, stealing is wrong!" said Glenn. 

"I know, Glenn, but I had no choice. You could've DIED if I hadn't gotten that Heal from Corinaw- we might've starved if I hadn't taken the food. Trust me, this is the dead last thing I wanted to resort to, but unfortunately, we don't have a hell of a lot of choices right now," said Dario. He made a fist. "Don't you see? We've hit rock bottom. We're lower than dirt. We're homeless, penniless street rats now. We aren't the sons of Devas in the eyes of the people. Norris isn't the son of a respected Porre commander. To these people, we're just another group of lost, lonely kids without a clue as to what to do next."

"We know that, but is stealing really the only thing we have to rely on?" said Norris. "Stealing is a crime in pretty much every village, city, and country in the whole world. To take from someone who worked hard to get where they are and use it for yourself isn't right."

Glenn looked at his brother. "Dario, is this really the only thing we can do?"

"Aye hate to say this, but aye think Dar's right," said Karsh. "Most thieves arena thieves by choice, and we dinnae have a choice, really. It's the only way other than death. We may need to do that for a little while until we git enough money to go back to El Nido and reunite with our folks. Then we can stop."

"Okay, what if we don't get enough money?" said Norris. 

"And you have a better idea, Norris?" said Dario. "We're only kids, and as Melchoir said, we could only get dead-end jobs that would NEVER earn enough money for four tickets to El Nido. Karsh, Glenn and I all have family and friends in El Nido that we desperately want to get back to. This could be the only way to get there!"

"But what would your parents and friends say if they knew you got home by stealing!?" said Norris, raising a fist to Dario. "What would your fathers say if they knew their own sons had resorted to STEALING to get by? What about that, Dario? Did you think of that?"  
"And we haven't stolen anything BEFORE!?" Dario said back. "If I recall, you're the one who suggested hitching a ride on that merchant boat that landed us in Medina. I don't blame you for what happened last year, but wasn't THAT stealing a ride? We didn't pay anything to get onto that boat!"

"Then why do we not just sneak onto another boat?" said Karsh.

"We've learned that just randomly picking a boat is a bad idea," said Dario. He sat down and motioned for the rest of the group to do so as well. All who were standing complied. "Unless you want to risk walking right back into Ozzie's hands or end up dead in a Choras riot, be my guest. The only safe way to get to El Nido is by getting the money that way. I know it's wrong- we'll find a way to pay everyone back somehow, but for now this is the best we can do."

Dario's friends and brother lowered their heads, thinking this over. Dario gulped. He knew he was willing to do it- he'd already done it once before, anyways. As for the others, they hadn't ever done anything like that for SURVIVAL purposes. This was going to be a tough decision to make. 

~

Dario awoke the next morning. Karsh and Norris were gone from the cave, and Glenn was curled up in the corner of the cave, staring at the back wall. The elder brother looked on in curiosity. What was going on with his little brother? Curious, Dario began to creep over to where Glenn was sitting.

"Glenn?"

Slowly, Glenn turned around to look at his brother, tears streaming down his face. "Dario. . . why is all this happening to us!?" he cried. He winced away. "First, Mommy dies, and then I got kidnapped and tortured by Curtis, and then we got sold to the Mystics, and then all those people in Truce got killed, and now we're becoming thieves!? What did we do wrong, Dario?"

_Oh shoot,_ Dario thought. _Why didn't I think of this before? Glenn's so young, but he isn't naïve anymore. He's had more thrown at him this past year then most people ever deal with in their entire lifetime. Yet he's only six years old! My little brother was a ticking time-bomb of bottled up emotions just waiting to go off!_ Dario knelt down next to Glenn and pulled him into a big, bear hug. "We didn't do anything wrong, Glenn- it was just a strange twist of Fate, that's all."

Glenn looked up at Dario, his bottom lip quivering. "Fate. . .? How. . . how. . . how can you be so sure!?" And then he broke. The younger brother began to cry his eyes out, shaking and trembling as he did so. Dario closed his eyes, squeezing him to try and make him feel safer. 

"Glenn. . . it's okay. . . it's okay. . ."

"NO IT'S NOT!" said Glenn, throwing his brother back as he continued to stare at him through tear-stained eyes. "I. . . I don't wanna talk to you anymore! I don't even want to see you anymore! You did a bad thing! Daddy told us stealing was wrong, and here you just did that! You stole! You're a thief! I can't trust you anymore! I can't! I can't trust you!" The young child stood up, looking at his brother with cold eyes that Dario didn't think a small child was capable of even having.

"Glenn-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Glenn screamed before running off into the woods.

"GLENN, WAIT!" Dario cried, running after his brother. 

"NO!" Glenn called back. "I can't! I can't!"

"Glenn, don't be an idiot! You'll never survive on your own!" said Dario.

"I'm not an idiot!"

"Please, don't run away! You could get hurt!"

"No! I won't do it! I won't!"

"GET BACK HERE! GLENN!" Dario cried, continuing to persue his younger brother. Unfortunately, Glenn was smaller and faster than his older brother. The younger brother slipped through spaces in the trees Dario could only walk around, all the while not responding to his brother's desperate calls. Even so, Dario refused to give up on his pursuit. _Don't be an idiot Glenn! You can't survive out here on your own! Please! Come back! If you don't come back, you might never see Termina again!!!_

Until he lost him. 

Dario looked around frantically. "Glenn!" he screamed. "Glenn, please, come back! Glenn! GLENN!!! COME BACK!!! PLEASE!!! DON'T GO!!! I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET HURT!!! COME BACK!!!" Dario fell to his knees and began to scream. "GLEEENNNNNNNNN!!!!!"

~

"Still no sign of 'im, Dar," said Karsh. Shortly after Dario had lost Glenn, Karsh and Norris had found him screaming in the woods. Karsh and Dario were back at the cave they currently called home while Norris was out searching the woods for the youngest member of the group. The elder brother was sitting next to Karsh, staring out into the woods anxiously. 

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Dario. "Oh, why did he run away? Why oh why-"

"Dinnae blame yerself- ye did what ye had ta do," said Karsh. "He's been through a lot- he just panicked, tha's all." He looked outside. "Ay'm sure Nor will find him, or he'll come back on is own, Dar. He's a wee one, after all- he knows he kinna survive on is own yet."

"You think so?"

Karsh nodded. "Tha is, provided something doesn't get him first."

"No! Don't say that!" Dario said, looking at Karsh in desperation. "He's going to be okay!"

"Ay'm sure e will be!" said Karsh. "Yer brother's a slippery one, tha's for sure."

Dario settled back, but never took his eyes off the entrance to the cave. "I hope so," he said. He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them, slowly rocking back and forth on his heels. "Karsh, I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't come back. He's my little brother- what if he gets hurt, or worse? What is Curtis of all people finds him!?"

"Ay dinnae think Curtis is gonna find 'im- Nor'll track 'im down before anythin' happens to 'im," said Karsh. "Until then, aye got somethin' aye hope'll cheer ye up a least a wee bit." The purple haired youth produced a small, red velvet sack with two gold ropes tying the mouth closed. He tossed it to Dario. "Nor and aye got it from a street vendor in Truce when 'e wasn't looking."

Dario looked at Karsh in amazement. "You actually. . .?"

"Yer right- it IS the only way until we save up enough to git home," said Karsh. "An if yer gonna do it, then so will aye. Nor has the same idea- e came up with the idea of us taking tha, ye know." He looked out towards the mouth of the cave again, sighing heavily. "'e'll come back eventually, Dar. Aye know e will."

"I hope you're right. But what's taking him so long?"  
"'e needs time to thin this over," said Karsh. He placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder and have him a reassuring grin and wink. "An e's been through a la. 'e probably just lost it a wee bit back there, tha's all- he'll come back soon enough. Just have some faith in the lad and before ye know it, he'll be back here with us."

"I just feel like I'm forcing him to steal," said Dario.

"Maybe ye are, maybe ye aren't- in the end, e as the right to say 'no'."

Dario sighed. "I suppose you're right. . ."

~

Several days passed, and there was still no sign of Glenn since he ran away. The boys had only stopped searching long enough to get food and eat it, but no matter how far they searched, the younger brother could not be found. Dario was getting progressively more and more worried about him, fearing the worse had happened to him. Norris and Karsh tried to convince him otherwise, but it was no use- Dario had become convinced that Glenn was dead or worse.

"Ye know, maybe e's just hiding from us," said Karsh. The three boys were standing around in the woods, still trying to search for Glenn. "From wha Dar said, Glenn was pretty mad at 'im- if aye was mad at my brother, aye might of done the same thing. Fer all we know, he could be watching us as we speak."

"I doubt that somehow," said Norris. He had his hands on his hips and was looking around the woods with mild interest. "Glenn isn't a stupid kid- he's bound to figure out that running away isn't going to get him anywhere. I don't blame him for not wanting to be a thief, but unfortunately Curtis hasn't given us much choice in that matter. Think about it- he's the source of all our problems, save the captain who sold us to the Mystics last year. Even so, would we have been sold if he hadn't kidnapped Glenn?"

Dario sighed heavily. "I just hope he's all right-"

"Dario! DARIO!"

Dario paused, looking up and around. The sound of the young voice could be heard, the crunching of leaves accompanying the small voice. Excited, the older of Garai's sons turned to see his younger brother running towards him, eyes wide and teary. "Glenn!" 

"DARIO!" Glenn threw himself into his brother's arms, sobbing hysterically. Dario fell to his knees, taking his brother with him. "I'm sorry. . . I'm sorry. . . I shouldn't have run away. . . I was scared. . . I didn't know what I was doing. . . I was confused. . . I AM confused. . . oh Dario! It was horrible! I didn't want to be alone!"

"Where we ye, lad?" asked Karsh.

Glenn sniffed. "A cave. But a wolf and her babies were there already and I just barely got away," he said. "I spent the last few hours in a tree- the wolf was barking at me and wanted to eat me and it was really scary! I didn't wanna hurt her babies! I just wanted a safe place to stay!" He looked at his brother. "Dario. . . why am I so confused?"

"You've been dealt more shocks to your system then most men three or four times your age have ever been given," said Norris, bending down to Glenn's level. "You were suppressing all your emotions from the past year and Dario stealing just caused them to explode into a fit of fury, that's all. You had an emotional breakdown and needed time by yourself. No big deal."

"We aren't mad at ye, lad," said Karsh, ruffling Glenn's hair. 

Glenn looked up at his friends and brother. "I've decided I want to help."

Dario looked at Glenn in surprise. "You want to steal with us?" Glenn nodded solemnly, looking very serious for a boy his age. "But you do realize that this isn't a game, right?" Another nod. Dario stood, helping his brother to his feet as well. "All right. We're all going to have a long talk about this tonight at dinner, okay?"

"Okay," said Glenn.

~

"Is thieving going to make us bad people?" Glenn asked. The dinner for that night was a stew that Karsh and Dario had thrown together with some meat and vegetables they'd gotten from a small village known as Dorino, which was just to the north of Fiona's Forest (where they had just "moved" into). Their camp for the night was in an abandoned cathedral that Norris said used to be a shrine to Fiona and the mysterious creature that had helped rebuild the forest. 

Glenn had yet to steal anything, which was something Dario was mildly happy with. Even if it was for survival reasons, he still felt a twinge of guilt every time he took something. _Is the guilt going to fade after time passes, or will it only get worse and worse?_ he wondered absently as he slowly stirred his stew. _I'm afraid that if we start going down this past we won't be able to turn back. _

"Aye dinnae think so- under these circumstances, it's understandable," said Karsh. "Na to the people we steal from, but it'll be understandable to our parents when we git home. Aye wouldnae worry about it, Glenn- we'll all be fine. As long as we dinnae steal from someone even poorer than us, we should be all right."

"You think so?" said Norris. Karsh nodded, taking another spoonful of the soup. Norris crossed his legs and sighed. "Well, in the very least we should be in El Nido soon enough and we can all just forget about this, right? It'll be behind us. We can all grow up to be Dragoons to fight Porre and help the people of Truce, Choras, and the other towns around here."

"Yeah!" said Glenn. "Dario and I will be just like our daddy!"

"And ay'll make ye all look like a bunch 'a sissies!" said Karsh.

"Hey!" said Dario, laughing. He grinned cockily. "You know I'd make the better Dragoon! I'm the son of the Legendary Garai and the descendant of the great Sir Glenn of Guardia. MY family has the Einlanzer- YOUR family has a blacksmith hammer. I'd say a legendary artifact is worth a little more."

"MY family served as blacksmiths for the rulers of Guardia before yer Sir Glenn was even born!"

"MY dad was the leader of the Devas!"

"MY da could kick yer da's ass!"

"No, MY dad would run circles around YOUR dad!!"

Norris coughed as Glenn looked at him in confusion. "Parental one-upmanship."

~

Next chapter we should see some more details on actual thefts. SHOULD see. I can't promise the best for the next chapter- it'll be the acid test to see how well I write scenes where the little band of thieves are actually doing what they do best- well, thieving, you know? So, make sure you review the next chapter and give me any advice you think would help even in the least bit. Lena, I'll be looking for your review (^_^). 

Alba: What? You didn't think it would be Dario? To me, Dario seems to be the leader of the group. Karsh is the goof. Norris does a lot of the planning for some of the bigger "jobs" later in the fic as they gain more experience. Glenn is a sort-of free spirit and uses his unique charm as part of his thieving style later on. Norris, eh? Hmm, why Nor? Yes, that pretty much sums up Pierre. Ah, that's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. And as a final comment. . . BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE. . .

Tami: Aw, thanks! No, _Ronin Warriors_ isn't a video game. It's an Animé about five teenage boys who have these powerful, magical armors. They each represent some sort of a element (fire, light, water, earth, and air) and fight against a demon named Talpa, his four Dark Warlords (who each represent a season), and the Evil Dynasty. It originally aired in syndication during the summer of 1995, was shown briefly on the _Sci-Fi Channel_ during 1996, and was later brought to _Cartoon Network_ in 1999 as part of the _Toonami_ lineup. It was canceled May of 2000, then brought back, then canceled again. Recently, _BANDAI Entertainment_ picked it up and is releasing it to DVD. As for the second question, I guess I like Serge and Kid, though I don't know if I'll do the cliché Kirge type story where they look for each other. I actually have a kind of funny idea for a story that focuses both on Kirge AND Gleena in the same package. Hmm. . . I also kinda like Pip and the other "little ones". I feel real bad for Fargo a lot, though he usually doesn't have a major role in my fics. And I like Grobyc- or at least I'll like him after the next story in the Curtis-ghost trilogy gets off the ground. . . *grins evilly*

Lena: That was creativity on my part. Chrono Cross didn't get too much into the development of most of the characters- Serge, Kid, Lynx, and Harle were the main focus. However, Dario, Riddel, and Karsh's love triangle received a lot of attention, as did the situation with Fargo and his family. There's really a LOT left to the imagination. Woo. . . Lena's swearing. Well. . . yeah, the El Nido chapter got a little repetitive, but I just wanted to emphasize those feelings. The last chapter. . . eh. . . just how DO you portray a town of inbred hicks, anyways? As you can see, Glenn was a little effected this chapter- he has the occasional emotional crash every few chapters or so for the next several fic "years". Still, the way I see his behavior is him trying to hold onto his innocence as tightly as he can- bottling it up, so to speak. Maybe a little afraid to let it show. I'm still playing around with their characterization, though. Yes, poor parents (except Curtis- ever seen the cockroach trap Will Ferrel "advertised" on SNL? They should do that to Curtis). Yeah, that happens a lot over the years, especially as more people get involved. We'll try, I suppose. 

Uftaki: Yeah, they were mean. But that's the last of the Corinaw people, though I'm not against one of the boys having a fling with a Corinaw girl much later in the fic, just to tick them all off. Yes, their stealing is a little on the desperate side at first, but eventually it gets better. You know that you're now the 4th person to put their two cents into that argument over Glenn's hair color? I still say BLONDE myself. 

GabbyGirl: Nothing wrong with a new computer. You? Crazed lunatic? Well, I just answer the questions/comments in the reviews based on how I'm feeling and the actual context of the review. Believe me, I've had crazier. You'd swear some of my RW readers are made of rubber with how much they all bounce. I kid you not- they BOUNCE. Hey, trust me, I want to update- I must update, because I always update around the time Alba does, and Alba left a really EVIL cliffhanger in her story. 

Rikku-oh-ki: Yup it does. Yes, I'm sure I can find FY stuff- I looked a few times, but until I actually get the nerve to purchase it, I haven't little to go on. 

IluvRikku12: He isn't naughty! Just desperate! For now J .

Yukari: . . .

~Dixxy


	9. Chapter Eight

Thieves

By Dixxy

Chapter Eight

Lady Gretchen de Polamora was considered to be one of the wealthiest, but also snootiest, women in all of Truce. She was the wife of a high-ranking Porre officer and flaunted her husband's name and rather disgustingly large fortune to her advantage. Despite the fact she was- in a few words- very, very, ugly, she had some of the most expensive jewelry and clothing that money could buy (though you could surmise that the gaudy clothes she wore acted as a distraction from her less-than-desirable features). Any fur she had was from a real animal, usually endangered, and she only wore the largest rarest of jewels. 

Naturally, she lived the high class life. She went to some of the classiest parties, thrown by some of the richest people of the Zenan Mainland and Choras. She and her husband often went on exotic vacations to places like El Nido (though she was very disappointed to learn the gates had been closed to all but merchants), and her home was one of the largest in the world. Yes, Lady Gretchen de Polamora was one of the classiest women in the world. At least, she thought so.

But, even in her snootiness, she did have one weakness, one craving that she satisfied as often as she could- she wanted to be seen in a positive light. Many of the poorer people of the community didn't like her because of what she assumed to be jealously. So, whenever she got the chance to, she would often try to be spotted being kind to the "less fortunate" and give them hugs or "kind words of encouragement". Would she ever do anything that would actually help? Of course not. She was too greedy for that. But as long as it LOOKED good on her part, then she was fine.

This information would eventually be turned against her.

Lady Gretchen and her entourage were out for a walk in the better half of Truce that was, generally, occupied by Porre officers or business owners who had helped Porre overthrow Guardia. She waved to the other women in her weekly discussion group as she saw them and winked at young men she found attractive (she usually had one or two affairs a week). She went down several random streets, enjoying all that she was seeing.

And then she saw her weakness.

There, sitting on the corner of one of the business establishments, sat a small boy. He couldn't have been much older than six or seven and had wild, messy, platinum blonde hair with large, brilliantly blue eyes. On one cheek he adorned a huge, red scar that looked like it must have been painful to receive, the woman wondering how such a sweet looking child could have been given it. He wore a simple outfit that consisted of a burlap tunic, a hat, pants, and well-worn boots. The child was rather thing and dirty looking, suggesting that he was perhaps a street urchin that had gotten away from an orphanage or perhaps a mansion in Medina.

Lady Gretchen squealed with delight at the sight of the boy- this was the perfect chance for her to make herself look good! That child was so sweet, yet so pathetic, that it was an opportunity she simply couldn't pass up. Quickly, she began to waddle (Lady Gretchen was a very large woman in addition to being very ugly) over to the boy, who looked up at her and smiled sweetly. "Hi, lady!" he said, waving brightly. 

"Oh. . . what a dear you are!" said Lady Gretchen, bending down to look at the young street rat. She clucked her tongue as she pinched the boy's cheeks, causing him to take a rather uncomfortable and nervous look on his face. She chucked in response. "You poor, poor, thing, all alone here on the streets without anyone to take care of you. You must be awfully lonesome."

"It's all right, lady," said the boy, shrugging casually. "I get by all right."

Gretchen cooed at the boy, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Well, well then, little one- tell you what. I'm going to give you some candy- how does that sound?" she said sweetly. The boy's eyes widened and he nodded enthusiastically, holding his hands behind his back and rocking on his heels. The wealthy woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of chocolate wrapped in foil. The boy extended one hand and she dropped it into his waiting palm. 

"Thank you, lady!" he said brightly, looking down at the candy. He looked up at her with a playful looked on his face. "Bye-bye, and thank you again, lady!" Lady Gretchen smiled, patting him on the head and sending him off. Without hesitation, the boy nodded and scampered off, not bothering to look back once. Before long, he had disappeared behind a corner and was well out of the lady's sight.

The wealthy woman chuckled to herself, pleased with her deed for the day. Now that she's given the little brat that four-month old candy, it was time to buy herself the nice, big, chocolate rabbit she'd been eyeing for the past several weeks. She turned to her entourage with the fake kindness they had all grown used to over the past several years. "If you don't mind, I will be going to the candy store to purchase something sweet for myself. Once we finish that, I want to buy a new dress and a new necklace, then perhaps purchase some tickets for the opera tonight- I hear the maestro is supposed to be quite handsome. Then perhaps I'll stop back at the candy store for some more chocolates," she said, reaching for her coin bag.

Or, at least where her coin bag used to be.

~

"Did I do a good job, Dario?" Glenn asked, looking at his brother nervously. The four young thieves had gathered in an alleyway lined with crates, where they made makeshift chairs and tables. Dario had dumped out the velvet coin bag Glenn had come up with and was counting the coins. The youngest of the group had just made his first attempt at pick-pocketing, something that Dario and Karsh reasoned would be easier for him to do because of his size.

"Four hundred gold- pretty decent," said Dario, nodding his head.

"But tha isnae enough fer a boat to El Nido," Karsh said. "What's our grand total?"

Norris, who had a pad on paper in his lap, was making some calculations. "One thousand, six hundred" he said. "Not to mention a few meals worth of food and some clothing. Not too bad, but not enough. Tickets to just someplace close like Choras is darn expensive-considering how far away El Nido is, we'll never make it at the rate we're going!"

"Hey, we've only been doing this for a week now. How much is one ticket?" asked Karsh.

"Uh. . . five thousand gold?" said Norris, nervously grabbing the collar of his shirt.

"Five THOUSAND!?" Karsh exclaimed.  
"Well, let's do the math," said the Porre fugitive. He began to scribble notes on his pad of paper, talking along as he went. "So. . . if it takes us one week to steal one thousand, six hundred gold pieces, that should be about three weeks and a few days get one ticket to El Nido. Now, if we multiply that by four, that means we should have the money in about. . . four and a half months, IF we keep stealing at the same rate."

"But shouldn't you factor in the fact that we'll probably improve our skills as time goes on?" said Dario, crossing his legs and looking thoughtful. "And what about other things, like food? We can't concentrate entirely on stealing money, can we? And when we'll want to buy things on the boat, too."

"This isnae the time to thin 'bout souvenir shopping!" Karsh snapped, standing up and tapping his foot irritably. Dario raised an eyebrow to his friend in question. "When we git on the boat home, we arena going to be spending our time buying gifts fer ourselves with other people's money, no matter HOW filthy rich they might've been before we stole from 'em. We arena stealing fer fun, Dar- this is going to be our livelihood for the next several months if Nor's math is correct."

Dario rolled his eyes. "Karsh, we can to Zenan on a VERY fast military boat. Whatever boat we travel on next time is going to be a LOT slower. We could be on the boat for several weeks and we might need to buy food while on the boat." He turned to Norris. "Could you calculate how fast we would get there on a normal boat, and, in turn, how much money we'd need for that time?"

Norris shook his head. "Sorry, I never got that far in my education."

"Then can't we just bring in a few more thousand gold pieces and hope it's enough to last us the trip?" Glenn asked. His eyes brightened and he leaned forward in excitement. "Or, better yet, just ask the boat master how long the trip would be and figure it out from there?" 

Karsh grumbled. "Aye hate it when 'e's right."

Glenn shot Karsh as dirty a look as he could muster. "Why?"

"Because Ay'm seven years yer senior, yet ye figure things out faster than me," he said. Glenn caught Karsh's point and grinned stupidly, at him, looking very pleased with himself. Then, for extra measure, he blew a raspberry at the older youth. The purple haired youth fumed at his younger companion, causing Glenn to start laughing. "Oh, yeah, sure, rub it in, why don't ye?! Just make me feel even-"

"Both of you- stop it," Dario quickly scolded, glaring at his brother and friend. Norris sat quietly nearby, wisely choosing to stay out of the argument- it wasn't his place and he had no desire to make it his place. "We have more serious things to worry about, and Karsh's incompetence or non-incompetence has nothing to do with any of it! We're only trying to get back home, and you two bickering isn't going to help us. Got it?"

"Right."

"Okay."

Glenn dug into his pocket, producing a wrapped up piece of candy. "Here you go, Karsh- it's the candy tha lady gave me. It'll make you feel better about it, if you want it," he said kindly. The purple haired youth nodded, his eyes widening as he took the candy and began to unwrap it."

"Thanks, Glenn. Yer so kind," he said, popping the candy into his mouth.

"Good, now that that's settled- OW!" Dario said, rubbing the back of his head. He looked over to where Karsh had a grossed-out look on his face, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Apon further inspection, Dario saw the candy lying on the ground behind him, obviously the projectile that had hit him on the back of the head. "Karsh! What is it NOW!?"

"Tha candy was old and stale! It was DISGUSTING! Yeesh, me mum's haggis was better than tha," said Karsh, spitting on the ground. He turned to Glenn, who looked disappointed with the candy he'd been given. "Aye dinnae blame ye fer tha, wee one, but tha was AWFUL candy! Still, thank ye fer the gesture- is the thought tha counts, after all. BUT MY TONGUE FEELS LIKE IS BEEN WASHED WITH DRY COTTON!!!" 

"I bet that mean woman gave him the bad candy on purpose," said Norris, who was scratching his chin in thought. "I used to hear the soldiers back in Porre talk about some of the cruel things that the upper class does to the lower classes for kicks. If you ask me, the act of giving out old, stale candy seems like something they'd do on an everyday basis if it pleased them."

"What else do they do?" asked Dario.

Norris scoffed. "The works. Whenever medicine and food comes in from other ports, they buy ALL of it then sell it back to the lower classes at hugely inflated prices. Most people garden their own food, but whenever someone gets sick, it's very hard for them get the medicine they need to save them. And even so, if there's a bad year for crops, then they have to once again turn to the rich for their food. Plus, there's also clothing and housing to worry about."

"Why?" asked Glenn.

"Some people are just cruel- money and power have a way of corrupting some people. Sure, some people can be hoisted high in power and still be just as kind and giving as they were when they were still in the middle or lower class, but others let it get to their head and start seeing themselves as superior to everyone else in the world. As a result, they feel they've been given the right to treat everyone as such," said Norris. He scowled. "It's quite sick, really."

"And where we've fallen into a very low social class in the past year, we can really see what it's like at that end of the spectrum," said Dario. He sighed heavily, throwing his hands up into the air. "There isn't much lower we CAN go, but there most certainly are jobs that we could take that are much less desirable than stealing- most of which I won't say in Glenn's presence." He grimaced.

Karsh, meanwhile, was still hacking and coughing over the candy. "My tongue feels like it just took a lick out of an ice cream cone covered in SAWDUST! If aye dinnae get a drink of water soon ay'll cut it out of my mouth and jump up and down on it until it's a pink mass on the ground! WATER!!!"  
Dario smacked his forehead. "Karsh, quit it- we get the picture, the candy was bad. C'mon, there's a spring just outside of town- you can get your drink of water, and then maybe we can all get cleaned up a little bit." He looked down at his clothing, which he hadn't really changed out of for a good number of months. He picked up the end of the shirt to see it was beginning to fray and come apart. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "And maybe we should try stealing some clothing after that."

"Yeah," said Norris, poking his finger through a hole on his sleeve. "I'll second that."

"I can third it," said Glenn, looking disappointed at his boots, one of which was loosing its sole. He looked up at his brother with a slight smile. "But soon we'll be home and that'll be all that matters, right Dario? Daddy will be really happy to see us! And so will Riddel and Zappy and Zippy and-"

"Can we go now?" asked Karsh, who was still hacking and coughing. "Please?!"

~

Poor Karsh. . . I'm so mean to him, aren't?

Oy, I got a little stuck on this part, and to be all honest with you, I'm not on hundred percent sure where the next chapter is going. . . Oh, whoops, my bad, yes I do. 

By the way, I know what to do about the **Glenn hair color** argument. It's actually quite simple- all we have to do is sneak up on him when he isn't looking, grab him, and bring him as quickly as we can to a sink (this might take a while as he's probably going to be squirming quite a bit). From there, somebody will produce the solution. . . a bottle of pink hair dye. You figure out the rest. No more hair color dispute!

IluvRikku12: I would like to think it's getting good. As for the top twenty list (yes, it's been expanded), sure!

Tami: Well, with the way things are going in my off-line rough copy, Glenn and one of the future cast members (won't say who) often get into trouble. I don't necessarily like it when they fight, but I DO like stories surrounding the brothers (A real good story about them is called "The Third Duty"- it's on my favorites list- Dario is something of an ass in it, but don't worry, that's what Karsh is for ^_^). I love Pip! He isn't creepy! *huggles Pip plushy*. As for the town, YES, DAMMIT! IT'S A HICK TOWN! I think it was a subconscious desire to make a town similar to a Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete town by the name of. . . *looks up strategy guide* ah! Yes! Meryod! Anyone who has played L:SSSC and gone a good ways through knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about ("I luv him. . . he's mah cousin, but I luv him!"). Okay, so it isn't EXACTLY like Meryod. But yes, there is probably incest going on there. As for the hair color thing, see two paragraphs above.

Rikku-oh-ki: *nodsnods* Okay, I hope you continue to enjoy it.

Pauli: It's up to one's own interpretation as to how the characters are portrayed. Also remember this is a BIG TIME Alternate Universe- in the real CC world, Norris is a Porre Commander, Dario and Karsh become Devas, and Glenn is a private because his memory is kinda of bad and he forgets important things like TWO-FRIGGIN'-DIGIT PASSWORDS! I swear, if he ever forgot the password to get into the Viper Manor treasury I would have to hurt him. . . The way I see it, he might've had a hint of the burr when he was younger, but as he started talking around other people it might've dulled a bit. It should disappear little by little as the story goes on. Eh, no one's perfect (except for Jesus because he's the Son of God).

Alba: Yeah, he was bound to burst. He has a few incidents as he gets older and begins to question himself and his purpose in life. Of course there will also probably be a chapter where he and maybe another future cast member ask the age old question, "Where do babies come from?". I'd LOVE to see the old thieves explain that. Yes, that's part of the whole deal. However, probably by the halfway-point they have another reason to steal, which gets explained. And, if you read my pre-response notes, you would know that it's actually quite pink right now ^_______^.

Soulblighter2: Thanks SB2!! Nazi Germany? No, more like southern inbred hicks without the cheesy southern accent ("Mah mama is also mah sister! Hyuck, hyuck, hy-uck!"). Oh, you bet I am. I can't do a story like this without them SUFFERING. The beginning is actually the worst of it, as most of the story focuses on their lives as they grow up as thieves and make friends and have encounters with other party members. Well, they all, for the most part, use their traditional weapons (Glenn and Dario use swords, Nor has a gun, ect.). Yup, they have quite a repertoire, though at this point Karsh and Nor will more than likely go through a Feminine-Panty Syndrome *cough, cough*. Well, yes and no- you'll see.

Blank Space: I was e-mail and told this was Witten's Hand. Yes, it was bound to happen- poor Glenn, I'm so mean to him. No he isn't- he has PINK hair now, remember? Oh, oh, now we're going to start on DARIO'S hair? Quick, someone grab the rest of that hair-dye! We've got bigger fish to fry! 

Yukair: Oookkaaayy. . . though I do agree with the diseased people of Corinaw.

~Dixxy


	10. Chapter Nine

Thieves

By Dixxy

Chapter Nine

Two months had passed, and little by little the boys found themselves getting better and better with their thieving skills. Glenn continued to pick-pocket and con sympathetic ladies with his "pathetic, sweet innocent little kid on the streets" act- or at least that's what Karsh called it. Dario and Karsh stole from carts as a team, taking turns distracting the vendor and doing the actual stealing. Norris was discovering a talent for slipping into small shops unnoticed and taking the items inside. 

The people of Truce were baffled. No one knew who the mysterious gang of thieves were or where they came from. Many suspected they were angry Knights of the Square Table out for revenge against the Porre loyalists. Others thought they were a band of hardened thieves. No one suspected the four quiet street boys who were often found running up and down the streets engaged in a game of tag or hide-and-seek. 

The boys were very pleased with the fact that no one really suspected any of them of anything yet. "All we have to do is make ourselves as discreet as possible and make a quick getaway- then no one can point the blame on us and we'll be on our way to El Nido before they get the CHANCE to suspect us," Dario always seemed to say. 

Sometimes, that was all they had to rely on for sanity. None of them considered their new way of life something moral or right- but they had to do what they had to do to survive. It wasn't easy living with the knowledge that the meals they ate were either stolen or purchased with someone else's money. 

But eventually, they found themselves satisfied with their booty.

"This should be enough to purchase the tickets to El Nido and sustain us for a month!" said Norris. The band of thieves was gathered in an old, abandoned hunter's cabin they had found two weeks earlier and claimed as their temporary residence. Dario was standing over the fugitive while Karsh sat on Norris' other side and Glenn, much to his brother's disapproval, was sitting on the table. 

Glenn cheered, raising his hands into the air. "All right! We're gonna go home!"

"It's about high time we did," Karsh said, unable to keep a wide grin from crawling onto his face. "My folks are gonna be so happy to me! Dar, Glenn, yer da's gonna be so happy! He must be pretty upset over the two of ye by now- first yer ma, and now you two?"

"Well we don't have the tickets yet, mind you," said Dario, beginning to put the coins into the largest wallet they had. "For all we know we won't be able to get a spot on the boat for a few months- we need to find out when we're leaving and prepare for that date. We should TRY to get something in the next few days, but if we have to wait a week or two then so be it- we should be happy we'll be getting there at all, right?"

"Right, but who cares how long it takes? It's been over a bloody year long already! What's another two weeks before we get onto the damn boat?" said Karsh. He stood up, his hands on the table. "Good riddance to the mainland! Let's get home and never come back here!"

Dario couldn't help but smile. _Finally, after a year of suffering, we're going home. We're going to El Nido, and no one can stop us now! We have the money to buy the tickets to get home. We're going home! Father, Glenn and I will be home soon, and everything will go back to normal._

"Dar? It's getting late- maybe we should get some shut eye," said Karsh, jerking his head towards the window. Sure enough, the sky had gone from a light and cheery azure to a deep and dark black with a hint of purple, the two moons shinning down from up above.

"All right," he agreed. Dario stood and began to play leader (which he pretty much was anyways). "I'll head down to the docks tomorrow morning and get the tickets- no one leave the house until I get back unless I'm not back by sunset- no point in taking any risks when we're this close to getting home. Got it?

"Yes, we understand," said Norris. He stood, stretched, and walked over towards his corner of the cabin. He sat down and smiled, winking at his companions. "See you guys in the morning- good night, good dreams, and good riddance to the mainland! El Nido Archipelago, here we come!"

~

The following morning, Dario went into Truce, much like he had done for the past several months. Even so, he couldn't help but smile- in his knapsack (well. . . a knapsack he's stolen off of a traveling merchant) he was carrying the money they needed to get to El Nido. _I'll never have to steal again! I'll see my father and Riddel and Radius- oh, this is a day we'll all remember for many years to come!_

Dario slowed his brisk walk to a halt when he reached the ticket center. Much to his pleasure, he saw that it was next to empty. His grin grew even wider as he readjusted the shoulder of the bag and waltzed in, swinging his arms and taking wide strides. _I'm going home, I'm going home, I'm going home. . ._

The room was a plainly decorated space with little more than a desk and a few benches that, Dario guessed, were for people waiting to be seen. A few windows showed the docks outside, where several large merchant and travel ships could be seen, many of them being loaded and unloaded with cargo and people. A definite scent of the sea hung in the air, and Dario could almost swear he could SMELL Termina in the midst. 

A smallish old man with thinning hair and leathery skin say behind the desk, scribbling something with a feather quill. This was obviously the dock master, waiting for some form of business, whether it be a merchant asking about where he and his sailors should spent the night or someone asking for a product from another country. To the El Nido boy, he looked almost unpleasant, but, if he was who he thought he was, he didn't have much of a choice but to speak with him. 

_Why are you so nervous, Dario? This is all you've wanted for over a year now- the way home. No matter how many liver spots or missing teeth this guy might have, he is the light at the end of the tunnel,_ he reasoned with himself. Taking in a deep breath, Dario advanced up to the desk. "Um, excuse me?"

Slowly, the old man dropped the quill. Chewing on some unknown substance, he looked up at Dario through old, weathered eyes. "Yes? What do you want?" he asked rather bitterly. Dario was taken aback by the cold words, but he realized that once the man saw he was here on serious business his attitude would change for the better.

"Are you the dock master?" Dario asked innocently.

The old man nodded slowly, but now he looked very cross. "Yes- I'm the dock master. I haven't got the time to be worrying about some dumb kid asking me dumb questions- this is a serious business port and I don't have time to waste on kids asking if I'm the dock master or not-"

"I'm here on serious business," said Dario. He dropped the knapsack on the desk, a resounding clunk following shortly after. "Count it if you'd like, but there's well over twenty-thousand gold pieces in here- more than enough to purchase four tickets out of here." The old man looked at him skeptically, but Dario only smiled. "As I said, count them if you'd like- it's more than enough."

The old man didn't removed his skeptical look, though he did open the knapsack. The blonde couldn't hold back his grin as the old man's eyes widened in shock as he reached in and produced a handful of coins. "You. . . how did a kid like you come up with this gold. . . amazing. . ."

"I've been saving every coin I could get my hands on for a while," said Dario. He pulled himself onto the desk and swung his legs back and fourth as he waited to begin the purchasing process. "So. . . just tell me if I have enough for four boat tickets and we'll be all set. Is that all right with you?"  
"I don't know WHY you want four tickets out of Truce, but. . . I suppose it doesn't matter. A paying customer is a paying customer," the dock master mumbled. He pushed aside the papers he'd been working with and produced a pad of paper Dario assumed was used to placing ticket orders. "Just tell me where you want to go and I'll give you the openings that are available."

"Four tickets to the El Nido Archipelago as soon as there are four open spots," said Dario. He crossed onto foot over the opposite knee. "I don't care if it's in a lower class or anything like that- believe me, we really don't mind. All that matters to us is getting to El Nido."

The dock master shook his head and clucked his tongue. "Sorry, no can do."

Dario blinked. "Are all the ships to El Nido booked up for the next few months or something?" he asked, turning his head towards the paper. _Funny, I don't see any schedule of boats_, he thought. He scowled. "Are you trying to screw me over because I'm a kid!?"

"If you were King Crono himself I couldn't get you a boat to El Nido," said the dock master. Dario's eyes widened in curiosity. "I don't know why you seem so desperate to get to El Nido, but quite frankly no one's going to El Nido any time soon- even I'D have a hard time getting there and I control every boat that goes through this port!"

"Why can't anyone go to El Nido?" asked Dario.

The dock master looked up at Dario sympathetically. "Well, I suppose you didn't hear then, did you?" said the old man. The blonde shook his head. "From what I've heard, General Viper- he's the leader of El Nido- has had to crack down on El Nido's security- Guardia fell quite easily to the Porres and he has to use every defense he can. He closed the port to all outsiders except for merchant ships."

Dario felt as if he'd just watched his entire world shatter into thousands of pieces. "You. . . you must be joking. Why, why would he go so far to close the port? That's silly! People might want to move to El Nido to escape the Porres or find a job or start a new or something! He can't just close the doors!"

"Yes he can!" said the dock master, slamming his fist onto the desk. Dario jumped, inadvertently sliding himself off the desk in the process. "Porre has an extremely well-organized spy system- they get into other governments by taking bit jobs such as dishwashers or servants in major areas where they could very easily gather information- there were a few of them working in Guardia Castle's stables before the war broke out. He can't trust anyone to come into the country because they might be a Porre spy. From what I gather he will allow SOME immigrants into the country, but only after a thorough inspection and only if their profession would help to sustain El Nido now that it's isolated itself from the rest of the world- mainly doctors and the like."

"Then. . . that means. . ." Dario said slowly. _I can't go home._

The dock master didn't seem to hear him, but he could see that the news wasn't sitting well with the young man. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, sonny, but that's the way it goes- I don't suppose you would like a ticket elsewhere- had it been ten years ago I would've suggested Choras, but. . . the anarchy is quite bad right now."

Dario picked up the knapsack, slinging it over his shoulder. "No. . . that's all right. . . but thank you, sir," he said slowly. He looked up at the dock master. "Thank you for your time- I'm sorry to have pulled you away from your business, mister. I'll be on my way."

"It was an honest mistake," said the dock master. "Good day."

"Good. . . day."

~

Dario took his time as he walked back to the little cabin. He felt as if he'd just been hit in the stomach with a sack of bricks and it felt awful. He hung his head, shuffling his feet as he moved through the streets of Truce, trying to hide the tears that slowly poured down his face. 

_Father. . . Riddel. . . Radius. . . I'll. . . I'll never see any of you again!_ Dario thought miserably. He clenched his eyes shut, clenching his fists and trying to quietly vent his anger. _We tried so hard to get back home, but now all of our efforts are a waste! We're trapped here forever!_

The now very depressed Dario reached the outskirts of the city sooner than he'd expected. _I guess we're going to be doing this for a living for a while now, aren't we? We could always try to get normal jobs, but we're all so young, and just like Melchoir said, any job we could get we'd be stuck in. Looks like we're facing a double edged sword here- either way we're stuck in a pretty tight spot, aren't we?_

It's kind of funny, really. Up until this whole mess began, you didn't give a crap about money, Dario continued to muse. _That was Father and Mother's responsibility- Father brought home a paycheck from the Dragoons and Mother spent the money on everything we needed. You didn't need to worry about anything- you just had to baby-sit Glenn once in a while and make sure that Karsh didn't get into TOO much trouble._

As the sun was beginning to set, Dario reached the edge of the forest. Taking a deep breath, he started to walk into the forest. _This is going to be so hard. . . they've all probably been hyped up since last night about going home, and now I have to tell them we can't go home? How are they going to take this?_ he wondered aimlessly.

The cabin was in sight. His friends and brother were all outside, waiting for his return. Norris was the first to look up. "Dario!" he said enthusiastically. Karsh and Glenn soon followed his example and before he knew it, Dario was surrounded by his friends, all of them firing questions at him before he had a chance to respond to them all.

"Where are the tickets?"

"When do we leave?"  
"Were we right about the money?"

"How long until we get home?"

"How much is left over?"

Dario clenched his eyes shut as Karsh felt the bottom of the knapsack. "Er. . . Dar? Why's the bag still full?" he asked, his eyes blinking at his best friend in question. "The ticket couldn't have been THAT cheap, even if ye weaseled around quite a bit. So what's the deal?"

The older of the three blondes looked at his friends and brother in defeat. "General Viper closed the port of El Nido to everyone but merchants," he said. A collective gasp and set of shocked looks followed that statement. "In a few words, we're screwed. We can't go home again."

"Why, Dario!?" asked Glenn. "Couldn't we just say it's us?"

"Who would believe you? It's been over a year- logically, they have the right to presume the three of you are dead. If anything the General would see it as a sick attempt at a joke and would probably just ignore it," said Norris, looking down at the ground. "It would take some pretty damn good convincing power to prove it's really you."

"He's right- even if we included some very personal information that the General would know only the three of us would know, he might not get far enough in the letter to see something like that," said Dario, leaning up against a tree. "So, for now, it looks like we're stuck."

Glenn shook his head. "We'll find a way back home!" he said. Dario looked down at his little brother, seeing a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Even Karsh and Norris had to smile at his determination. "Even if it takes us years and years and years we'll find a way home again!"

"Yeah!" said Karsh, raising a fist into the air. He composed himself and cleared his throat. "We can survive, for now, by continuing to steal. Once we find a way to El Nido, even if we have to get there by illegal means, we'll take it! And then everything will be all right again!"

Norris chuckled, smiling brightly as he did so. He gave his friends a thumbs up. "Well, at least we're all motivated by SOMETHING, even if it is a bit of a hopeless something- but there must be a loophole somewhere, and damn it if anyone can find it it'll be us!"

Dario smiled. _Maybe it ISN'T so hopeless after all. . ._

~

Damn, that was a little depressing. Poor boys. But you have to admire their determination.

Uftaki: Yeah, she was nasty, wasn't she? And there is a SLIGHT chance she might be coming back a little later for more "fun". I don't know why I did that, I just enjoy torturing Karsh in silly ways. A little bit of development, yes, but right now I have a decent idea how everyone is going to work out. I don't know who Shuiichi is, but none of the less, yes, Glenn with pink hair would be cool ^_^ (Glenn: Yes, perhaps you think it is cool but I find it undignified!). Dar, too.

Tami: They're few and far between. Oh, adorable? It starts to get darker as the fic goes on- I like dark elements, but my writing style is too cutesy for my own good -_-*. Oh, video games? Hmm. . . well, I really like _Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories_- yup, I'm a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan. I WUV JOEY AND KAIBA AND YAMI AND TRISTAN!!! Naturally I've played _Chrono Trigger_. I've played through and beaten both of the _Lunar_ games and have two SSSC fics that have been on hiatus for a long time. Sadly, that series is no longer being distributed probably due to the all the bells and whistles included in the packaging. Both are GREAT games- you don't know the meaning of a funny cut scene until you see Kyle in a dress or Hiro and Ronfar getting themselves kicked to kingdom come. I've played and beaten _The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time_ and am currently stuck in _Majora's Mask_ (damn Stone Tower Temple. . .). If the mood strikes me I'll play _Super Mario 64_ or _Pokémon Snap!_ (some of them look really cute when they're pissed off at the apple chucking photographer ^_^). When playing with other people, then it's _Super Smash Brothers_, _Mario Party 2_, _Mario Kart 64_, or _Pokémon Stadium_, all of which are kinda boring when played alone but a complete BLAST when played with friends. SSB is self explanatory- beam swords, megaton hammers and ray guns are DA BOMB! MP2 is best played when picking through the mini-games and not going through the board game mode. I usually die pretty quickly in the battle mode of _Mario Kart_, but if there's more than two people playing, the first fatality becomes a bomb on wheels- revenge is a bitch and her name is Dixxy. Really? Someone else is after turning his hair pink, too? Ooo. . . Glenn is doomed!

Whoo-hoo! Dixxy rambled AGAIN!

Rikku-oh-ki: Yeah, kinda cute. First time the reader actually sees an act of thieving. 

IluvRikku12: Aw, thanks. Yes, praise and motivation are both very good, but then there's also another variable: other stories. I swear, there was NOTHING getting updated in the CC section for about a week or so when I uploaded the last chapter. And guess what happened after I updated? You guessed it- BAM! Suddenly EVERYONE updates or posts a new story! I got buried! 

Virgo: Glad you picked it! I just wanted to do an AU really badly for some reason, which I almost NEVER do. 

And remember, boys and girls: lots of reviews = happy Dixxy. Happy Dixxy = more frequent updates. 

~Dixxy


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